Densi-mber Drabbles
by ejzah
Summary: These are all the drabbles/ficlets that I posted over on Tumblr for the annual Densi-mber celebration. Descriptions will be within individual stories. If you haven't guessed, they all focus on Densi, although many do include other members of the team.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Although this page and event is dedicated to Densi, since the 250th episode airs tonight, we thought it was only appropriate to post a team fic for this momentous occasion. Happy first day of Densi-mber!

* * *

"Don't drop your left, Babe!" Kensi called out from the sidelines as Sam and Deeks sparred in the middle of the gym. It was mostly unnecessary at this point, but she couldn't help herself. Encouraging Deeks was second nature by now and part of the game.

"C'mon partner, you can hit harder than that," Callen said and Sam shot him a glare as he danced back from Deeks and then lunged forward. Deeks blocked him with his forearm, landing a punch to Sam's upper chest. "It's certainly different that the first time they fought each other. Back then Deeks didn't stand a chance."

She turned her attention back to Deeks, analyzing his movements. His form was definitely way better, his hits had more force behind them and after all these years he knew Sam's style. It also didn't hurt that Deeks had a more muscular physique than when he'd first joined the team. She spent a little more time than absolutely necessary to examine the flex and pull of said muscles as he attempted to pin Sam's arm behind his back.

"Deeks wasn't that bad," she said eventually, partially out of loyalty, partially out of competitiveness. Callen snorted.

"Sam knocked him out cold."

"That's because it wasn't an even match. If Deeks had as much muscle then as he–"

"Yeah, I think we all know how much you like Deeks' muscles," Callen interrupted dryly and Kensi made an outraged noise.

"That's not what I meant."

"I saw you checking him out. Again."

"I was not," Kensi protested as Sam and Deeks wandered over, both breathing heavily. Wiping sweat of his face, Deeks nudged her shoulder and asked,

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Your muscles," Callen answered which earned an unsurprised look from Sam.

"I should have known," he said. Deeks nudged Kensi's shoulder again, grinning.

"The question is, who started the conversation?" he asked, winking at Callen. Before things could descend into complete chaos, Kensi got things back on track.

"Actually, we were remembering the first you guys fought each other."

"Oh yeah, good times. Sam knocked my lights out and then you guys proceeded to steal my case," Deeks recalled as he grabbed his water bottle and downed half of it at once.

"And who'd have thought that we'd still be have your scrawny butt around ten years later," Sam added cheerfully, roughly patting Deeks on the back.

"I think Kensi would argue that it's a well-muscled butt," Callen felt the need to point out.

"Should I be concerned that you've been checking out my butt?" Eric chose that moment to walk in and asked,

"Is this a bad time to interrupt?" Based on his vaguely disturbed expression, he'd heard at least part of the conversation. Kensi grabbed Deeks' arm and physically removed him from the area before he could make things more awkward for Eric.

"Nope, you have perfect timing," she said firmly, pushing an unresisting Deeks out of the gym.

* * *

They were in the bullpen later that evening, while Callen and Deeks finished up some reports. The discussion of their early days as a team had continued throughout the day; both Sam and Callen had proved to be surprisingly sentimental about the whole thing. They'd taken turns recalling various incidents throughout their careers before and after the rest had joined. At some point Nell and Eric had wandered down too and joined the conversation.

"You know, since we're being all nostalgic today, I was thinking about what things were like before Deeks and Nell were a part of the team," Kensi said, looking over at Deeks with a fond smile.

"It was a lot more peaceful for one thing," Sam commented dryly, glancing pointedly at Kensi and Deeks. "There was a less drama and the chances of walking in on someone kissing was almost negligible."

"And you guys never let me drive," Kensi added under her breath. Nell, sitting on the edge of Callen's desk, was looking wistful.

"I remember my first day working here. I was terrified. I told myself that I was going to do everything perfectly and be the best tech analyst the Office of Special Projects had ever seen. And then I'm pretty sure I spent most of the day rambling and making Eric hate me."

"I didn't hate you," Eric protested from beside her, apparently horrified by the thought. Nell rolled her eyes at his loyalty, although she also looked somewhat pleased.

"Oh you definitely did not like those first couple weeks," she countered. When Eric started to protest again, she raised a small hand in a halting gesture. "Which I completely understand. I kept cutting you off and trying so hard to prove myself that even I am retroactively annoyed."

"And none of that matters now because I love you more than anything," Eric said sweetly and leaned over for a kiss.

"Before this gets any cheesier than it already is," Callen said, looking vaguely amused by the display going on in front of him. "Didn't you also throw Hetty a massive birthday party? When we specifically told you that you shouldn't."

"I don't know that you ever said I shouldn't throw her a party," Nell hedged. "Besides, she loved it."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about that. I'm think Hetty was so sick of hiring new analysts she was determined to like you no matter what."

"That is not true!" Kensi objected, looking outraged on Nell's behalf.

"Even if it is true, like Eric said, it doesn't matter now," Deeks pointed out, sharing a friendly smile with Nell. "Because it was one of the best decisions Hetty ever made. This place wouldn't be the same without you."

"Oh Deeks, that is so sweet," Nell murmured, placing a hand over her heart.

"He's right," Sam agreed. "Even though I might not have seen it at first, all of you have made this team better and I can't imagine if I didn't have you guys around me every day." Nell made a sound remarkably like a sniff after Sam's impromptu speech and Kensi reached over to squeeze his shoulder.

"We love you too."

"Ditto," Nell said.

"It's your turn." Sam nodded in Callen's direction, arms crossed expectantly and a hint of a smirk pulling at his lips.

"My turn for what?"

"To say something nice. You're the only one who hasn't yet." Callen looked like he might protest, but then shrugged.

"Fine." He let out a weighty sigh and confided, "I actually liked Deeks' oyster beer." This was met with a chorus of groans and protests.

"And on that note, why don't we take this conversation to the Squid and Dagger," Deeks suggested. "This time, I promise there will not be any seafood involved." There were several sighs of relief at this news.

As they packed up to go, Hetty appeared in the doorway, hesitating in a way that was most un-Hetty like.

"Is that an open invitation, Mr. Deeks?"

"Of course," he answered with honest surprise. "You're always welcome."

"Wonderful," she said, clapping her hands together and somehow taking instant control of the impromptu get together. "Since we're reminiscing, did I ever tell you about the time Mr. Hanna crashed his first Challenger?" Sam laughed nervously and touched Hetty's arm.

"C'mon Hetty, I don't think anyone wants to hear that story."

"I do," Nell piped up immediately while Eric nodded eagerly. Sam ignored them and began futilely trying to usher Hetty out of the bullpen.

"You told me that accident wasn't your fault," Callen commented, his eyes narrowed at his partner. "You said the other car crashed into you."

"It wasn't my fault," Sam insisted as Hetty said,

"Well, yes, in a way I suppose that is true. A car did crash into Sam…but only after he smashed into a parked minivan." Hetty continued the story as they left the mission, much to Sam's dismay and everyone else's amusement.

By the time they made it to the Squid and the Dagger, Callen was still ribbing Sam. Deeks disappeared into the storeroom to the grab the promised beer while the rest of the team found seats at the bar.

"Can we please talk about something else?" Sam begged after another round of jokes at his expense. "Like how nice it is to finally have this team all in one place again."

"I will definitely drink to that," Kensi said as Deeks reappeared with a crate of bottles.

"Hey, you guys better not have started toasting without me," he said jokingly, starting to pass around the beer. Callen took one immediately while Sam and Nell hesitated. Deeks rolled his eyes as he bumped Kensi's shoulder to get her attention and passed her a bottle. "I promise this beer is fresh, chilled and definitely not fishy. It comes from a local, award winning brewery."

"It better be. I still have nightmares about that last one," Sam said darkly with a disgusted shake of his head.

"It honestly wasn't that bad," Callen insisted.

"You have no taste buds," Eric said with a horrified expression. Deeks had finished distributing the beers and went to stand beside Kensi, leaning against the bar.

Hetty cleared her throat and stood up, raising her hand in a way that demanded attention.

"Since we are all gathered her together, and thankfully in one piece for once, I would like to toast to this team. I am eternally grateful for the work you do each and every day. To the Office of Special Projects, may we be together for ten years more." She ended by lifting her glass in the air and everyone followed suit and took a drink.

"And to the members of this team who are no longer with us," Deeks added and they drank again. There was a moment of contemplative silence and then Callen said, frowning down at his bottle,

"You know, I kind of miss the oyster beer. It had an interesting muskiness."

"You are ridiculous," Sam said with a chuckle.

"I've got more in the back if you want it," Deeks offered. Hetty set her half-empty bottle on the bar and declared,

"I believe that is my cue to leave."

"Thank you for coming, Hetty," Kensi said graciously as Hetty gathered her belongings.

"I wouldn't have missed it. Oh, and Mr. Deeks, please do not let Mr. Callen have more than one of those beers," she added over her shoulder with a delicate shudder.

"Yes, Mom!" Deeks called out as she left and the others spread around the bar, Callen in search of more musky beer. Kensi wrapped her arm around his waist, leaning into his side, and sighed contentedly.

"When you first told me you wanted to buy a bar, I thought you were crazy," she started, and Deeks snorted.

"I know, I thought you were going to kill me when I took the team here the first time."

"Mm, but now having the team here for drinks are some of my favorite nights."

"Mine too," he murmured. He cupped the back of her head and leaned down to kiss her. Who knew if they would last another ten years as a team, but he knew they would be their own weird version of a family forever.


	2. Christmas Lights

A/N: For today's prompt: Decorating for Christmas. Takes place during season seven.

* * *

"Hey, I finally found the boxes of Christmas decorations," Deeks crowed excitedly, coming in from the garage with a medium sized plastic container and a not so insignificant amount of dust bunnies clinging to his hair and Christmas sweater.

Kensi had rolled her eyes when he put it on that morning, mentioning that it was in the 60's, but Deeks had merely whistled Rodolph the Red Nose Reindeer a little louder. He'd also proclaimed it Decorating Day which in the Deeks' household was apparently the second of December (barring any unavoidable interruptions).

"Awesome," she replied with forced enthusiasm which Deeks either didn't notice or chose to ignore.

"The Christmas lights for the tree are in here and I think I found all the decorations. Why don't you start putting these on the tree while I get the rest of the stuff?" Apparently it was a rhetorical question and Kensi felt her eyes widen in mild panic as he placed the box in her arms.

"Um, Deeks…" she started to say but he'd already turned around, consumed with his plans and excitement.

"Oh, and you might need to check some if some of strands are working cause they were a little wonky last year," he added over his shoulder.

"Fantastic," Kensi muttered to herself. Deeks was so happy and she didn't want to ruin this for him, but she didn't even know where to begin. Hanging Christmas lights was never one of the things her Dad had taught her. He had usually taken care of things like that himself, if he decided to put up lights at all. Then between being homeless as a teenager and associating Christmas with Jack leaving, she'd never bothered to figure it out for herself.

Sighing, she glanced over her shoulder and finally sets the box down and took off the lid. There were several neatly looped strands–or as neatly as unboxed lights could be–stacked together. It definitely looked like Deeks' work. Personally, she would have just thrown them in and bothered with the mess the next Christmas.

She removed the top set gingerly; it had large, old-fashioned looking bulbs of various vibrant colors that she vaguely remembered seeing at Deeks' apartment the last few years. Carefully, she uncoiled the strand and then turned to face the tree they'd picked out yesterday after work.

It was about seven feet tall and suddenly seemed massive and an impossible feat to conquer.

"Ok, you can do this, Kensi," she said, looking over her shoulder again. She didn't know what was taking Deeks so long, but he would undoubtedly be back at any time so she laid down on her stomach underneath the tree and started wrapping the strand around the very base.

Branches kept poking her in the face and after just a couple minutes, her arms were sticky with tree sap. The lights kept getting tangled, but after a lot of swearing and pointless shaking she managed to get the majority of the strand wound around the bottom branches.

"How's it–um, what the hell are you doing?" Deeks asked as he came in from the garage. Kensi jerked in surprise, tangling her hair on a couple of branches.

"Hanging the lights," she answered in a would-be light tone, scrambling out from under the tree.

"It looks more like you were trying to strangle the tree." He looked close to laughing and Kensi felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

"Fine, I don't know how to put Christmas lights on a tree," she admitted tightly, crossing her arms defensively. Deeks frowned and asked,

"What are you talking about, everyone knows how to decorate a Christmas tree."

"Well I don't. It's something that I never learned how to do. So there it is, I ruined Decorating Day." Deeks raised his hands, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Whoa, slow down. Nobody ruined anything. So you can't put on Christmas lights, big deal. I'll show you how." Kensi took a deep breath and muttered,

"I just know how much you were looking forward to doing this together."

"Aw baby, come here," he said and tugged Kensi into his arms. "Believe me, there's lots of things that could ruin today, but you strangling the tree is not one of them. I promise." Kensi nodded and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Thanks." She was starting to feel a little silly about her outburst now and smiled sheepishly. "And I'm sorry I freaked out."

"Don't worry about it. I just can't believe there's finally something that Kensi Blye doesn't know how to do," Deeks teased and she whopped his arm lightly with the back of her hand.

"Shut up and show me the right way to do this thing. Also, I'm not sure if we can get this strand back out, it's kind of tangled up in there."

"Yeah, that's definitely not coming out unless we cut the branches off."

"Alright, you don't need to rub it in." Kensi said with a roll of her eyes.

"Ok, so first of all, you want to start at the top and work your way down. And secondly, it usually helps if you don't unravel the whole thing or you just end up wasting a bunch of time untangling it every few seconds," he explained, selecting a new strand and demonstrating the appropriate length.

"That would have been nice to know before I wasted ten minutes on the damn thing." Deeks ignored her and added,

"And if you're like my mom, this would be the point where you break out the eggnog or peppermint schnapps."

"I think I'm beginning to see why you enjoy decorating so much," she said wryly, unraveling a couple more feet while Deeks intertwined the lights around several branches.

"Hey, Decoration Day is not complete if you don't end it a little tipsy and wondering what you did with the tree topper," he explained as though it made perfect sense. Despite herself, she couldn't help but get caught up in Deeks' enthusiasm.

"Well, if all else fails we can make a star out of tinfoil and spray paint it."

"That's actually not a bad idea." Kensi just shook her head and said,

"You are so ridiculous. But I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Are you kidding? This is the best Decorating Day ever," he said happily, taking a step back to admire his work. He pulled Kensi into his side as they looked up at the half decorated tree.

"Mine too," Kensi agreed, pushing up on her toes to kiss Deeks.


	3. Early Arrival

A/N: So...without giving too much away, this involves a baby being born. So if you're a bit squeamish, read with caution.

* * *

"Kensi, I do not think this is a good idea," Deeks repeated for what felt like the hundredth time.

"You've been saying that for the last three weeks," Kensi replied, her tone slightly breathless yet still somehow able to convey her annoyance. She had insisted on carrying her own duffle along with some kitchen supplies from the truck to the Air BnB they'd rented near Mammoth. It was a cozy looking little place that supposedly came equipped with all the amenities they could ever want.

Deeks trailed slightly behind her, weighed down by a cooler, two more duffle bags, and a collection of miscellaneous crap. He would have gladly carried all of it if Kensi let him. She was being stubborn though and he was the last person to tell his extremely pregnant wife what to do.

"That's because I still think this is a really terrible idea. You're 38 weeks pregnant, we're up in the mountains and my cell phone connection is already sketchy."

Stopping in front of the front door, she looked over her shoulder, her expression all but settling the argument.

"Oh my god, nothing is going to happen. We've had these reservations for over a year. It's a miracle that we didn't have to cancel them for some reason so I am not going home." She punctuated the statement by stabbing in the 6 digit code into the security system keypad.

Sighing, he followed Kensi through the door, eyeing the sky. It was a fairly warm day for December, there wasn't a cloud in sight and the roads had been in good condition.

"I still don't like it," he muttered, hopefully low enough that Kensi wouldn't be able to hear it.

* * *

A few hours later, Deeks was finally starting to relax. They'd turned on the electric fire in the living room and were sipping mugs of hot chocolate while they lounged on the floor.

"Ok, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea," he admitted, pressing a kiss to the top of Kensi's head. She looked up at him, snuggling into his chest a little more.

"Mm, good," she said contentedly. "You needed a break. Oof." She quickly grabbed his hand and pressed it to the left side of her stomach. He grinned at the now familiar feeling of a tiny foot pushing back.

"So cool," he muttered, not for the first time. Kensi smiled indulgently, but pointed out,

"It would be nice if your child didn't feel the need to practice his football skills at all hours of the day. Mama needs her rest."

"Then let me escort the lady to her bed," Deeks said gallantly, placing an arm under her knees.

"Oh no, Baby," Kensi protested. "You'll hurt your back." He ignored her and gathered her against his chest as he slowly got to his feet.

"All part of the Marty Deeks holiday service." Kensi snorted and rolled her eyes, looping an arm around his neck while he started to ascend the small flight of stairs leading to the master bedroom.

"You are so ridiculous," she said fondly. Her fingers brushed against his neck in a soft caress as she gazed up at him. "But I love you anyway."

* * *

Deeks shivered and burrowed under the covers, scooching closer to Kensi. Her skin was blessedly warm in comparison to the chill of the room. She made a soft sound of protest before shifting back against him, bringing their mostly naked bodies together.

A shiver ran up his spine, not from the cold this time. Last night was the first time in a few weeks that they'd really had the opportunity to have sex without worrying about being interrupted. Or at least as much as they could with an 8 month baby bump between them. It turned out that pregnancy made sex a slightly more difficult, if not intriguing, endeavor.

"Ugh, why aren't you sleeping?" Kensi asked groggily, blindly reaching out and brushing the side of his head by chance. Deeks pressed a kiss to her fingers before she hastily snaked her hand back under the covers.

"I got cold. You should go back to sleep." The covers shifted and most of Kensi's left eye appeared; from what he could tell she was frowning.

"I would, but your son keeps kicking me in the liver." He held back a snort and started rubbing his hand over her back in a soothing rhythm.

"It's a boy, huh? Yesterday it was a girl," he pointed out. They'd been going back and forth on the gender for the last several months since they'd decided they wanted it to be a surprise. "And I didn't realize you could feel your liver."

"He's acting more like you today. And believe me, I can definitely feel my liver. I'm pretty sure it's covered in bruises."

"I would say you're being ridiculous," Kensi narrowed her eyes dangerously and he quickly finished with, "but I'm smart enough to know that to do so would be suicidal."

"Smart man," Kensi said around a huge yawn. "What time is it?"

"I don't know, but based on the light-crap!" Kensi jerked up and his sudden exclamation, automatically reaching for a nonexistent gun while clasping the other hand to her belly.

"What?" she demanded.

"The window's covered in snow," he said, pointing to said window as he climbed out of bed. The lower pane was covered with a thick coating of white let through only a small amount of light. Already, his mind was filling with images of a three foot snowdrifts and blizzard like conditions.

"The wind probably just blew it there," Kensi said reasonably. "Come back to bed, Baby. I'm cold," she wiggled her eyes ridiculously but Deeks couldn't deny her. He crawled back under the covers, tugging Kensi towards him and began kissing a path down her neck.

Several pleasant hours later, Deeks wandered into the kitchen in search of food. They'd dozed off and on, enjoying the opportunity to just stay in bed without interruption. While Kensi showered, he planned to scrape together something for lunch.

They'd brought along some sandwich stuff and he was in the process of making two truly spectacular BLTs when Kensi called out, sounding weirdly hesitant.

"Hey Babe?"

"You want me to shave your legs again?" he shouted back. For some reason, Kensi found asking for help with that task particularly humiliating.

"No...I think my water broke."

"Would you mind repeating that," he requested calmly, sure he'd misheard.

"My water broke," she said. His mind blanked for a moment and then he was running up the stairs. He found Kensi wrapped in a thick white towel, braced on the edge of the tub. She was breathing a little bit harder than normal and her cheeks were flushed. "Hey." Her voice was casual but she winced slightly, her face scrunched up in pain.

"Oh my god, you're in labor." It was a ridiculous, obvious statement, but somehow his mind didn't want to accept the fact.

"Pretty much."

"Ok, that's fine. It's fine. I'm just going to grab our stuff and we'll drive to the hospital," he said with forced calmness.

"Can you help me get dressed first?" she asked, her fingers clenched so tightly the knuckles were pale. Deeks helped her change sweatpants and a large shirt and then started grabbing a random collection of items to throw in the truck.

When he stepped out on the driveway, he skidded a few feet and nearly crashed into an inconveniently placed tree. The ground was covered in a sparkling sheet of ice. There was no way he could risk driving on it.

"The roads are too icy, I'm going to call an ambulance," he told Kensi as he ran back inside and grabbed his phone.

"We don't have time for that," Kensi said in a strained voice.

"What do you mean we–" he started to say and then broke off as he saw Kensi was now braced against the kitchen counter and panting shallowly. "Kensi?"

"Yup."

"Kensi, no. This isn't what we planned for."

"Well, I'm sorry but apparently this baby doesn't care what we planned for. My contractions are already two minutes apart," she snapped out, punctuating it with a moan.

"Ok, you're right. Let's get you somewhere more comfortable and then we'll maybe get some blankets and hot water and totally not have a panic attack," he said, placing a supportive hand on Kensi's back and one under her arm. He started to head for the living room, the closest room, but Kensi shook her head and said,

"No, we'll never get our security deposit back. The bathroom."

"Oh my god, you are so ridiculous," he muttered as they changed directions.

Once he had Kensi semi-comfortably reclined against a mound of pillows and blankets, started searching for scissors, clean towels and anything else his scattered brain could think of. When he had it all together, he paused just outside the bathroom door and promptly collapsed to his knees.

He hadn't been joking with Kensi. He felt on the verge of an honest to god panic attack. He breathed in and out slowly, trying to slow his racing heart.

"Deeks?" Kensi called some time later. She sounded scared and he felt terrible for leaving her alone, even for a few minutes. Scrubbing his hands over his face, he pulled in several short breaths and walked back in.

"What's wrong? Do you need anything? Are you thirsty?"

"I need you," she whispered, reaching for his hand. He took it and crouched down beside her, brushing damp strands of hair back from her temple.

"Kensi. Baby, I have no idea what I'm doing," he admitted.

"We took the classes and watched the delivery videos. And didn't you read a book about delivering babies?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't expecting to actually have to do it," Deeks retorted. "This is the kind of stuff that happens on sitcoms."

"And to us apparently." She let out a quiet moan, biting down on her lip. It spurred him back into action. However much he might want to deny it, this was really happening.

"Ok, we should probably get your pants off and see how dilated you are."

"Now I really know you're worried." She paused to gasp, her hand squeezing his so tightly it hurt.

"Why?" he asked as he helped Kensi scooch out of her sweatpants.

"You didn't make a dirty joke," she answered and he snorted out a somewhat hysterical chuckle.

"How long between your contractions?"

"About a minute and a half." She let out another strangled groan, her eyes squeezing shut as her belly heaved. "It feels like I need to push." Gingerly, he pushed Kensi's legs farther apart. Never in a million years had he imagined this happening.

"Holy crap, I think I can see the head!" he said in quiet awe. A sudden feeling of calm replaced his earlier panic and he squeezed Kensi's hand again as she smiled at him hopefully.

"What's it look like?"

"Um, dark. I can't really tell yet."

"Well, I think-aaah-I think you'll get to see in-oh my god-in a minute. I really need to push," Kensi said, her voice strained and higher pitched. She looked a little panicked now, her breath short and shallow.

"Ok, Baby, breathe with me. Deep breath in and then out, good. That's perfect, Kensi," he instructed. Kensi closed her eyes and focused on matching him breath for breath. After several minutes she seemed at least a little calmer.

"I can't believe I'm about to give birth in a bathroom in the middle of the mountains," she said.

"If you think about it though, this isn't even one of the crazier things we done. We routinely jump out of exploding buildings, a crazy Russian guy try to kidnap me from our wedding and last year our Thanksgiving party included a Russian criminal, six Navy SEALs, and Hetty Lange. We've got this babe."

"Great. Because I think this baby is ready to come out now." She made an unearthly sound and bore down. Deeks hastily lifted her legs higher as she continued to push.

"Don't push too hard," Deeks instructed, recalling some salient bit of information from the recesses of his mind. "I'm going to count to five and then I want you to take a deep breath and stop pushing." Kensi nodded again, not making any other noise than panting.

Far quicker than he thought possible, he could see the head was crowning.

"You're doing so good, Baby. Just keep pushing. Ok, the head's out, but I think the shoulders are stuck."

"You need to turn the baby," Kensi managed to say, her voice strained.

"I don't want to hurt you," Deeks said, gingerly supporting the baby's head with one hand while the other hesitated. He could almost hear Kensi's eyes roll as she said between clenched teeth,

"Just do it." Then she added more softly, "I trust you."

Carefully, he turned the baby until one shoulder was free. He eased the second shoulder out and the rest of the body slipped into his trembling hands with surprising speed.

"Oh my god, it's a girl, he whispered, staring down at the tiny human wriggling in his arms. She had a full head of dark brown hair that he guessed would be the same shade as Kensi's. Even covered in pasty vernix and slime, with her eyes squeezed shut, she was beautiful. Carefully, he ran the tip of his pinky over her cheek. Kensi pushed herself up a few inches on shaky arms and asked,

"Deeks, is something wrong, I don't hear anything?" At the sound of her voice, the baby's eyes popped open and she let out a tiny wail.

"She's perfect," he answered, moving to Kensi's side and gently laying the baby on her chest. "She's absolutely perfect."

"Oh, she's so little," Kensi breathed. "She's so beautiful." He was in awe as Kensi shifted their daughter towards her breast as though it was the most natural thing in the world. She looked entranced. His throat tightened suddenly with emotion, tears pricking at the back of his eyes.

She looked up at him and noticed the tears now slipping freely down his cheeks and reached for his hands.

"Don't cry, Baby." He scrubbed at his face and sucked in a shallow breath.

"I just can't believe this is real." He'd wanted this for so long, they both had, and now he was slightly afraid it was somehow a cruel dream. Kensi tilted her head and gave his hand a weak tug.

"Come here," she whispered. "Hold us." Deeks shucked his shirt off, easing behind Kensi. She leaned back against him, letting out a deep sigh of exhaustion. He rested his hand on the baby's back, partially covering Kensi's and pressed his lips to her temple. Kensi shivered and he yanked a clean towel off the towel bar, draped it over them all and then wrapped his free arm around Kensi.

He knew they'd have to get up soon, but for now he was content to sit there, basking in the snuggling sounds of their daughter as she slept.

"Love you, Kensi," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple. She didn't speak, but gave his hand a small squeeze.

For the moment, everything was perfect.

* * *

A/N: Please remember this is meant for entertainment purposes and not intended to be taken as completely medically accurate. The more gruesome bits will take place post-scene.


	4. Legacy

A/N: This wonderful story idea was suggested by mashmaiden.

* * *

His hands tremble as he cups them and brings a handful of water to his face. Some of it spills down his chin, running down his neck to soak the neckline of his shirt.

Pulling in a shaky breath, Deeks finally gathers the courage to face his reflection in the mirror. There's a cut under his right eye and his bottom lip is split and swollen. His nose had finally stopped bleeding a few minutes ago; it hurts like hell, but he doesn't think it's broken. He'll probably have black eyes though.

The thought makes him shudder again. Black eyes and near broken noses aren't a new experience. Little Marty Deeks had his fair share. So had his mom. Swallowing harshly against a wave of nausea, he turns the water back on and grabs a relatively clean washcloth from the edge of the sink.

God, this was a terrible idea. When Bates had suggested this undercover job, flattering him with talk about how Deeks was perfect for the job, he should have known better. He should have said no. But he'd been eager to prove himself and get far away from his last partner.

That was when he'd created Max Gentry. At first it had been hard pretending to be someone else, acting out with anger and violence. And then all too soon, it had become remarkably easy.

Tonight it had all come to a head and he'd been forced to showcase that violence or risk being killed. He'd chosen violence, convincing himself that it was for the sake of his cover. There were bigger things at play and if his cover was blown, then the whole operation was too.

That's what he'd told himself at least right before he'd beat the crap out of a guy who apparently didn't buy his act.

He'd felt the man's nose crunch beneath his fist and been satisfied by the shocked look on his face. Now the thought made him sick. His dad had always looked pleased with himself when he hurt him or his mom.

He'd promised himself, promised his mom that he would never become that. Is there something inherent in him that longs for this kind of violence and pain or had he learned it from his father?

Looking in the mirror again, he starts wiping dried blood off his chin. If he looks hard enough, he can see a bit of his dad in his eyes. Maybe it's his imagination, but he thinks look harsher than he had the night before.

He pulls in a short breath and blows it back out immediately as he continues to stare at the darkening bruises. "I'm not like him," he promises himself, knowing that tomorrow he'll likely doing the same thing all over again.

Throwing the washcloth in the sink, he smacks off the bathroom light so he doesn't have to face his reflection anymore. As he walks to through the door, he takes another deep breath, and wills himself back into the mind of Max Gentry.

With each step, he feels a little piece of Marty Deeks chip away.


	5. Happy Ending

For today's prompt: Densi watching Christmas movies. The idea for this particular story is adapted from another Christmas prompt from angeliiiic on Tumblr. This does contain some slightly mature content, but nothing too crazy.

* * *

"Wait, is this another one of your sappy, old romance movies?" Deeks evaded Kensi's question and subsequent attempt to read the back of the DVD case in his hand, slipping the disc into the player.

"Hey, no peeking. And for your information, "It's a Wonderful Life" is a classic Christmas movie and while, yes, there is romance, it is definitely not sappy," he replied loftily, tucking the DVD case under the pillow on his side of the couch. Kensi rolled her eyes.

"You know I can get that if I really want to, right?" she asked, letting a seductive edge creep into her voice and tugging at the V-neck of her shirt. Deeks shifted against his pillow, seemingly unbothered by her threat.

"Yeah, but that would be an egregious misuse of power. Plus, it's almost Christmas and Santa's watching. You don't want to get coal in your stocking."

"You're ridiculous. Let's watch your movie." She tried to sound resigned, but was secretly a little excited. Despite some of the less than savory comments Deeks had made in the past about his Christmas traditions, most of them had turned out to be enjoyable. Plus, how bad could a movie with the word 'Wonderful' in it be? She curled up against Deeks side, sighing happily.

"Why would you make me watch this?" she demanded approximately an hour and a half later. Deeks glanced down at her in surprise, taking in the tears streaming down her cheeks. He paused the movie and took her hand,

"Kensi, what's wrong?"

"This is a terrible movie. Poor George's dad died, he doesn't get to go to college, he lives in a nasty old, leaky building, he's going to lose his business and now he's about to commit suicide because of an evil old man. Nothing about this movie is wonderful."

"But that's what makes it so good, by the end–" Deeks started to say, but she stopped him with an accusatory finger.

"Christmas movies are supposed to make you feel happy."

"I promise it has a happy ending."

"No, I'm not watching the rest," Kensi said stubbornly, crossing her arms. Deeks made a strange noise and she turned to glare at him. His lip twitched suspiciously. "Are you laughing at me?"

"Of course not," he said quickly, adopting a serious, if slightly nervous. "Because that would be incredibly insensitive and stupid." Kensi glared at him for another minute and then said,

"You are a cruel, cruel man." She stared at the frozen TV monitor, swiping at the remnants of tears on her cheeks, and added, "Tell me how it ends." Deeks made an outraged noise.

"I can't tell you how it ends! I would be ruining a once-in-a-lifetime experience for you." Kensi rolled her eyes at his dramatic tone, ignoring the fact that a few minutes ago she had been crying over a fictional character.

"Well, I'm certainly not watching the rest. I don't do sad Christmas movies."

"C'mon Kensi, you can't quit now," he begged, "There's less than an hour left and I promise it doesn't stay sad."

"Nope."

"I'll make it worth your while." Kensi narrowed her eyes at him.

"How?" she asked.

"Um…I'll cook you dinner. No, I'll take you out for dinner, rub your feet every night for a week and watch Titanic with you whenever you want," he promised rashly, gauging her response.

"I have a better idea," she said after a minute of consideration. Turning to face Deeks again, Kensi smiled evilly.

"What do you have in mind?" Still smirking, she pulled her shirt up by the hem, stripped it off in one fluid move and tossed it over the back of the couch.

"I think you can figure it out." She enjoyed the way Deeks' mouth dropped open as she arched her back.

"That, um, that seems like way less of a hardship than I was expecting," he babbled, eyes flicking between her face and breasts peeking out of the top of a simple black bra. Shifting across the couch, Kensi swung her leg over Deeks thighs, hovering above him. He swallowed harshly, his eyes fixed on her.

She gripped his shoulder to keep her balance and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Turn the movie back on." Deeks punched at the remote clumsily, finally hitting the right button after a few attempts and then let out a groan as she licked a stripe up his neck. "And make it worth my while."

"Oh my god, I'm never going to be able to look at Jimmy Stewart the same way," he muttered and Kensi grinned against his skin.

"Good." She ducked her head and captured Deeks' mouth firmly with her own.


	6. At Peace

A/N: Written for today's prompt: Write a 'missing' Densi scene. I couldn't resist writing a post-scene for 'Mother'. This one also has a little bit of mature content.

* * *

"I really thought I was going to lose you today," Kensi whispered into Deeks' chest. Her cheek rested against his shoulder, his bare skin pleasantly warm against her own. He had an arm wrapped securely around her back, holding her in place. Her heart beat had evened out some and she felt relaxed in a way that only came from true exhaustion.

They'd been pretty frantic when they got home, ripping off each other's clothes with an intensity fueled by residual fear and relief. They hadn't even made it to bed the first time and she knew in the morning they'd both regret the rug burn and bruises from bumping into furniture.

Deeks didn't say anything for a long time, but she felt his muscles twitch minutely beneath her. She ran her hand across in his chest and pressed her lips to his shoulder.

"I was too at first, but then when I realized that I probably wasn't getting out of there…I thought about how good I've had it. How lucky I've been to have you in my life and I realized I was, well not exactly ok with it, but I guess maybe content," he said eventually, shaking his head and swallowing harshly. He reached up and wrapped his hand around hers, his finger tapping at her wedding ring. Kensi felt her throat tighten with emotion and she fought to keep her voice even as she asked,.

"Is that why you told me about the panic attacks?" She started running her fingers through Deeks' hair, needing the contact and confirmation that he was lying beside her. Deeks nodded, pulling in a deep sigh.

"I needed you to know that it was ok to leave." Kensi laughed sadly and tilted his chin down to look him directly in the eye.

"Oh baby, you know there's no way I was leaving you. Even if I didn't come with that ridiculous, last minute plan, I would have stayed." Deeks shuddered and pulled her even closer, pressing his lips to her forehead in a desperate kiss.

"I think that's what terrifies me the most," he murmured. Kensi brushed her fingers over his jaw, clinging to him just as much as he was to her.

"I can't help it. I love you and I'm with you to the end, no matter what," she said and Deeks sighed heavily.

"Honestly, I'd have done the same." After another long silence, in which Kensi thought Deeks had fallen asleep, he asked, "Are we really going to quit our jobs and live in a van?" Kensi laughed again, pressing her face into Deeks' chest so the sound was muffled.

"You know, honestly a few hours ago that sounded wonderful," she answered slowly.

"And now?"

"I really don't think I want to live in a van. The quitting our jobs part…I'm not sure what to do. In a way, I feel like never stepping foot in the mission again, but then I know that we can't just abandon the others. Especially now," Kensi said, rubbing her forehead. They'd had this conversation so many times, and although they always moved a step closer, they never seemed to be able to take that final leap. Or at least she couldn't.

Deeks nodded, his expression turning concerned.

"Yeah, this has to be hard for both Hetty and Callen. I can't imagine what it was like being there in that museum," he said in agreement. They'd only heard a water-downed, terse version from Callen, but it was enough.

"And I don't think Nell is doing very well either, she looked a wreck when we got back to the mission." she added, frowning at the thought.

After a minute, Deeks nudged her and when she looked up he was smirking at her.

"What about the home schooling thing? Can't you just picture yourself waking up and teaching our little ninja assassins how to read?" he teased and she could tell he was trying to lighten the mood again.

"I think we both know that was said in a moment of pure adrenaline and panic. There's no way I have the patience for that."

"So we're not going to be French-speaking, berry-eating hippies for the rest of our lives? I'm so disappointed."

"Mm, afraid not." She shifted so she was suddenly laying fully on top of Deeks' body. He immediately rearranged his legs to accommodate her, settling his hands low on her hips. "But, I do want to have babies with you," she added, leaning up to kiss Deeks lightly.

"Really?" he checked, looking slightly wary and honestly a little shocked. She nodded and his face split into the widest grin she'd ever seen.

God she loved him so much. Acting on that thought, she grasped either side of his head and kissed him soundly. Deeks responded enthusiastically, his hands smoothing up her body and clutching at her shoulders.

"Just to be clear," Deeks gasped against her mouth as she pressed her hips into his, "are we working on that baby right now?"

She thought of all the times she'd put this off, all the worries, the fears she'd had about having kids. Then she remembered holding Deeks' arms through a tiny window, not knowing if they'd ever see each other again and having a feeling of loss and regret so strong it had nearly made her gasp. She was determined not to ever feel that way again.

Smoothing Deeks' hair back, she ducked to kiss him again and then murmured between uneven breaths, "There's no point in waiting."

A/N: Although this might have some similarities to chicgeekgirl89's story, Afterboom, I promise this was mostly written before I read it.


	7. Do Something Right

A/N: This was originally posted for day 7 of Densi-mber. Does not follow that day's prompt.

* * *

"Hey babe-Deeks, what are you doing?" Kensi paused with one foot in the upstairs bathroom, looking down at her husband in confused astonishment. He was currently partway under the cabinet, his lower half surrounded by a collection of screws, tools, bits of plastic and instruction manuals.

He wriggled himself out enough to say,

"Baby proofing." Kensi snorted.

"In case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have a baby," she pointed out.

"But we will." He ducked back into the cabinet and blindly reached for a screwdriver.

"Deeks, I'm not even 12 weeks," she protested as he made a strained noise, followed by the sound of cracking plastic.

"Crap!" he hissed, reappearing with bits of sawdust in his hair. He reached to grab a new lock and Kensi grabbed his hand.

"Wait, what are you doing?" she asked, seeing a slightly manic look in his eye. He blew out a long breath.

"I don't want to be unprepared."

"Baby, we have plenty of time before the baby's born, and it's not going to be able to get around and into stuff for at least six months after that." For a second she thought he was going to argue, but then he tossed the screwdriver on the floor and scrubbed both hands over his face.

"I'm freaking out a little," he admitted quietly. Kensi crouched beside him, growing concerned but still confused.

"About baby proofing?" she asked.

"About everything. I don't anything about raising a baby."

"That's not true. You're great with kids," Kensi protested.

"Not babies. I've never taken care of a baby, or any kid for that matter, long term."

"So your plan is to turn the whole place into an obstacle course for the next how many ever years?" Her voice came out a little harsher than she intended and he retreated from her, resting his chin on his knees. Sighing to herself, she sat down next to him against the cabinet and gathered both his hands between hers. "I'm sorry. Tell me what's going on. Why is this bothering you now?"

"I don't know. Maybe because it's something I can control? I can't promise that I'm going to be a great father, or even a good one. And I might screw our kid up in all kinds of ways, but I figured at least I could try and keep them safe." He gave a defeated sigh and Kensi's heart clenched.

She wondered if he'd ever be able to completely move beyond the damage his father had caused. If he'd ever stop believing that he'd turn into him one day. All she did know was that she'd never stop trying to change that.

"Oh baby, I know you're not going to believe me right now, but you are going to be a great father. We'll both make mistakes for sure, like everyone does. But it won't mean that you don't care. And it won't mean you're anything like your father," she told him sincerely.

Glancing up at her from under his bangs, he looked unconvinced but desperate to believe her. It made her heart ache even more for him. She eased one of her hands from his and used it to turn his face. Cupping his chin, she said,

"It's true, Deeks. And I'm going to keep saying it until you know it too." She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, wiping away the moisture that had gathered beneath his eyes. He let out a shuddering sigh.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he whispered.

"Every day," she answered. "In a million different ways." They stayed cuddled up on the floor long enough for Kensi's butt to start aching and eventually Deeks shifted and said,

"I guess I better start clearing this stuff up, huh?" He motioned to the pile of hardware.

"What are you talking about, we got a lot more baby proofing to do," she responded, grabbing a hammer and wrench. Deeks frowned at her for a moment and then smiled gratefully.

As crazy as she might think it was, she spent the rest of the day helping Deeks install all manner of locks and latches, happy to see him content.


	8. Christmas Blues

For today's prompt: Someone's not in the holiday spirit, and the other tries to change that. And again, things get just a tiny bit mature. These two just can't seem to help it. Set in season 10.

* * *

"Hey, so when are we picking up the tree?" Kensi asked, turning to face Deeks as they walked into the mission. He shrugged. "You always say if we wait too long they'll run out of all the good ones."

"I don't know if I feel like getting a tree this year," he answered with another shrug. Kensi snorted at the ludicrous statement.

"Right. Let me guess, you planned some kind of elaborate surprise to get a tree in the house while we're at work."

"Nope. I'm just not sure I'm in a Christmassy mood this year."

"Oh, come on, babe! You love Christmas," she said, nudging his shoulder. When he didn't respond, she asked a little less certainly, "Is something going on that I don't know about?" Deeks shrugged and looked around, seemingly searching for an answer.

"Not really. It just seems like a lot of work for a couple of days that we won't even necessarily get to celebrate," he explained.

His explanation made sense and to a certain extent she'd felt the same for a large chunk of her adult life. In her opinion, holidays were fine but she could do without some of the stress and expectation. And the moms ganging up on them about babies while toting casseroles of who knows what.

But Deeks typically loved decorating, cheerfully singing and turning the house into their own personal winter wonderland. And it was one of the things she loved about him.

"Maybe we don't have to go all out but we should at least get a tree. It's tradition."

"Maybe we should start a new tradition," he countered and Kensi knocked him with her shoulder.

"Doing nothing is not a tradition," she said and then added, "Remember what we did last Christmas?" Deeks snorted.

"Yeah, I had to dress up as Santa. Again. Why don't Sam or Callen ever have to do the Santa bit?" Deeks asked and Kensi couldn't tell if he was actually annoyed or just trying to change the subject.

"First of all, Callen would be the worst Santa ever. Secondly can you really imagine telling Sam that he has to put on a red suit and a fake beard? Not to mention the fact that I don't think they make costumes in his size," Kensi said, quickly derailing any plans he might have of foisting his Santa duties off on someone else.

"Mm, good point. What about Hetty? I'm sure she can get that ho-ho-ho down."

"Ok, now you're just being ridiculous. I was actually referring to what we did on Christmas morning," Kensi said, linking her arm with Deeks' and leaning into his side. "Remember how we had coffee and Christmas cookies in front of the tree?" Deeks nodded and she added,

"And then I showed you your Christmas present?" With a distant look in his eye, he asked,

"You mean the little red thing, with the straps and the-?"

"Uh-huh."

"Ok, I'll admit that wasn't so bad."

"What if I told you that I got a brand new Christmas outfit, just for you? With lots and lots of lace," Kensi whispered in his ear and she felt a shudder run through him.

"Um, what color is it?"

"Dark green."

"Ok, so maybe getting a tree isn't such a bad idea," he decided quickly and Kensi smiled smugly at him. He was so easy. Thankfully. "You know, just so we have someplace to put our presents."

"Right," Kensi said with a roll of her eyes. "You know, if you ever feel the urge to take out your Mr. Clause costume again, I won't complain." She smacked Deeks' butt, still smirking. There wasn't any more talk about not decorating that year.


	9. Practice Makes Perfect

A/N: Related to last night's episode, "Answers". Touches on adults themes. Someday soon I'll post a g-rated fic again.

* * *

"Oh my god, I'm so tired," Deeks groaned, laying his head on his desk. Callen smirked in amusement, shaking his head.

"I told you to go easy on the workouts," Sam said, adopting his older brother voice.

"I wasn't working out. Although it feels like I was," Deeks answered, yawning hugely. "It's the sex."

"Excuse me, what did you say?" Callen asked in a tone that suggested he'd heard exactly what Deeks had said.

"Sex. We've been going at it like rabbits. I never thought I'd want a break from it, but I'm just so tired. All of me," Deeks gestured to his lower half, "is tired."

"Ok, that is way more than I ever needed to know," Sam cut him off and glared at Callen as he started to say something. "Don't you even dare."

"Good morning," Kensi said cheerfully, coming from the direction of the gym. Her hair was damp and she seemed to be full of energy. Sam and Callen watched as she grabbed two cups of coffee and then stopped beside Deeks' desk. "Are you still tired?"

Deeks nodded and groaned, blindly reaching for a cup. Smirking to himself, Callen said,

"Deeks was telling us all about why he's so tired." Kensi went from rubbing Deeks' back to lightly whacking it. He made a startled noise and looked up with blurry eyes.

"Deeks, I can't believe you would tell them that! We said we were going to wait to tell everybody until we actually get pregnant," she said, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Actually, he just said you guys were having lots of sex, but thanks for the confirmation," Callen informed her smugly.

"Why are we talking about this?" Sam wondered to know one in particular.

"Why would you tell them about us having sex?"

"It just slipped out," Deeks whined. "I so tired, babe. Don't you think we could take a break? Just for like a day or two?" Kensi looked appalled at the suggestion.

"No we can't. We are so close, Deeks. I can feel it," Kensi said with a terrifying amount of passion and a weird gleam in her eye. Deeks just lifted his head and groaned. "You can do it, baby. I have faith in you."

"You know, I'm actually starting to feel a little uncomfortable too," Callen commented as he watched them.

"Good," Sam said with mild satisfaction.

"Do you think we should leave?"

"No! Who knows what they'll get up to while we're gone." Kensi broke away from Deeks long enough to say,

"Hey, we do have some self-control."

"Plus, I'm way too tired," Deeks mumbled, dropping his head back on his desk.


	10. Better than we Had

This one is also related to "Answers".

* * *

Kensi came up behind Deeks and rested her cheek on his upper back as he filled the dishwasher. He straightened up, clasping the hand she'd wrapped around his torso.

"You doing ok?" he checked. They'd had a couple drinks back at the bar before returning home and it was nice to relax for once. Although baby-making wasn't completely off her mind, she felt a lot more at ease since they'd discussed it.

"Mm-hmm," she murmured into his shirt and then pressed a kiss there. "I was actually thinking about what you said earlier, about your mom being "non-existent". I know she wasn't your typical mom, but I always had the feeling that she was very present in your life." Deeks sighed, bowing his head a little more and turned around, settling with his back against the counter.

"I didn't really mean it like that," he said and for a moment Kensi thought he was going to leave it at that. Then he ran his hand through his hair, looking in the opposite direction. "My mom really tried her best with what she had. When my dad was around, she tried to protect me, but when she couldn't she just kind of…turned in on herself. For a long time I think she accepted that was how her life was going to be."

He swallowed harshly, glancing briefly at Kensi before his gaze skittered away. She clasped both of his hands between hers, encouraging him to continue.

"After I shot him and the police came and I got taken into social services, mom worked really hard to get me out. It wasn't easy. And I think that gave her a purpose for a while, she felt like she was doing something for me for a change."

"And after you got out?" Kensi prompted gently.

"We had a small grace period. We were both a mess, but we had each other. Then mama found a job. It wasn't very good so she worked all the time just to pay rent and keep us fed. Sometimes I only saw her for a few minutes in the morning and then maybe a little at night if I was lucky."

"You guys were just trying to survive." Deeks nodded and rested his chin on her head.

"We were and she tried her best, in her own weird, crazy way, to be there for me but she couldn't a lot of the time," he said, his voice regretful.

"I'm sorry, baby," Kensi said and he shrugged, brushing it off.

"It wasn't all bad. I mean even when she was driving me crazy or doing ridiculous things, it was a wild ride. And she always did it with the best of intentions." That brought a smile to his face and he added, "Mom always tried to do something special for my birthday, like the time she accidentally got tickets to that crappy cover band. I still loved that she tried."

Kensi hugged him a little tighter and rubbed his back.

"I'm sorry you didn't have the childhood you should have," she murmured.

"Neither of us did," he pointed out. She thought back to what he'd said about not having a blueprint to parenthood. It was so true of both of them, but more so in Deeks' case in a way.

"You're right, but it doesn't mean we can't give our kids, whenever they may appear, a better life than we had. We won't make the same mistakes as our parents did," she said firmly.

"You think so?" Deeks said it playfully but she could still hear the doubt underneath.

"I know it. You're already one of the best men I know, I think fatherhood will only make you better." He blinked once, giving a slow shake of his head, then peered up at her from under his bangs. She thought she saw a glint of moisture in his eyes as he said in a trembling voice,

"I don't know if that's true, but I do know that you're going to be a great mom." She felt her own eyes fill with tears and pulled his face down to hers, kissing him firmly.

"I love you, Marty Deeks," she murmured as they clung to each other.

* * *

A/N: This doesn't precisely fit in with my other head canons for Mama Deeks, but I felt like we needed at least a little explanation for that one line.


	11. Baby 101

A/N: For today's prompt: Preparing for the arrival of baby Deeks-Blye.

* * *

"Um, Kensi, why is there a naked baby on my desk?" Callen asked with casual interest. He gingerly poked it with one finger.

"Don't do that!" Kensi snapped, tugging the baby out of his reach. "And it's on your desk because there isn't room on mine."

"Then maybe it's time to clean it," Sam muttered from behind his computer. Kensi shot him a glare and hovered protectively over the baby, one hand braced low on her belly. Deeks observed the whole thing with a mixture of amusement and subdued long-suffering.

"It doesn't seem very professional to have a baby, a naked one at that, around the office," Callen persisted, which made Deeks roll his eyes and finally get to his feet.

"It's not like it's even a real baby," he pointed out, to join the growing crowd gathered around the semi-realistic plastic baby.

"You still haven't explained why you brought it here," Sam said as Kensi picked up the doll and cradled it in her arms.

"I'm practicing," she explained and at Callen's confused expression, she added, "Diapering." She shrugged nervously, clearly looking for some kind of approval.

"She is very diligent about her practice," Deeks drawled, smiling at Kensi when she glanced his way. "Has me beat for sure."

"I'm almost down to three minutes, but I keep fumbling when I go to grab the wipes." Callen stared at her for a moment, his gaze dropping between her and the doll and then laughed.

"I think that's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard," he said, grinning.

"Excuse me?" Kensi asked in a dangerous voice.

"Oh brother, you did not just say that," Deeks said in a low, slightly awed voice. "You do not call a pregnant lady ridiculous." He shook his head and shared a commiserating look with Sam.

"He's right, G, you are in so much trouble."

"No, it's ok," Kensi insisted, transferring the baby to her other arm. "It's fine that you think I'm ridiculous for trying to make sure I'm prepared for when our baby arrives." She grabbed the rest of the baby paraphernalia from Callen's desk. "I'll just get rid of this stuff so it doesn't bother you anymore." With that, she stalked from the room, or as much as she could at this point.

Deeks let out a low whistle, shaking his again and smirking at Kensi's receding figure with appreciation.

"You don't really think she's mad at me, do you?" Callen asked, looking a little nervous despite himself.

"She's 8 months pregnant, over flowing with hormones and you just insulted her motherly instincts," Sam replied with a wide grin that said he was enjoying every minute of this.

"Meaning I'm pretty much dead," Callen summed up and Deeks nodded again.

"So dead."

"Great."

"We'll wear something nice to your funeral," Sam offered cheerfully.


	12. Lessons with Sam

A/N: A sequel to yesterday's story, as suggested by mashmaiden.

* * *

When Kensi didn't return to the bullpen for over half an hour, Callen began to look a little worried. Deeks was fairly certain than Kensi wouldn't do anything outrageous to Callen, but she might make his life somewhat unpleasant for the next few days.

After another ten minutes, Callen muttered something about needing to make a call and hastily left the room. As he went down the hall, Deeks was sure he heard him mention something about flowers.

Shaking his head, Deeks jiggled his mousepad to wake his computer back up and tried to remember what he'd been working on.

"You know, I can help you out with this stuff," Sam offered into the silence and Deeks glanced over at him with a frown. "The baby stuff," he clarified.

"Somehow I think we have that part covered," Deeks replied sardonically.

"I don't mean like that, smart ass. I'm talking about diapering, feeding stuff." Sam shook his, but couldn't quite hide a smirk.

"You want to show me how to put a diaper on a baby?"

"Well want might not be the right word, but I've certainly got lots of practice after two kids. Plus, I remember what it was like being a guy and trying to navigate all the baby books and classes," Sam explained with a knowing look.

Deeks couldn't help but feel a little touched. He did feel a little, make that a lot, overwhelmed with everything he was supposed to know in the next month.

"That would actually be really nice," he said after a minute of consideration and gave Sam a grateful smile.

"Good. When do you want to start?"

"Well, it can't be anywhere Kensi will find us. She'd freak if she thought I was going to beat her time," Deeks said seriously. Surprisingly, Sam nodded as though it made perfect sense.

"Ok, let me know a time that works for you and I'll be there," he said.

* * *

"No, no you want it a little tighter," Sam coached, brushing Deeks' hands aside and demonstrating what he meant.

"You just said it was too tight," Deeks protested in frustration.

They'd decided to meet at the mission, early in the morning before anyone came in. Deeks had told Kensi he was going to work out which she seemed to accept willingly enough. Of course, she'd also been half asleep so he wasn't sure how much she actually heard.

Now after half an hour of 'practice' Deeks' hair was fluffed out from repeated ruffling and he was beginning to regret accepting Sam's help. If this was how Kensi felt after practicing, then the manic look in her eyes made a lot of sense.

"That's because you made it too tight," Sam explained patiently. "You want to make sure it's secure but not cutting off the kid's circulation."

"Oh my god, why am I so terrible at this?" Deeks groaned dramatically, tossing a handful of wipes onto the bench they'd been using as a changing center. There were about 20 diapers, cloth and disposable, pins, powders and wipes spread across the entire surface.

Sam patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"Ok, calm down, Deeks. You're not that bad. And in any case, we've got at least a couple more weeks before you actually have to do this."

"And what if I don't? If I can't even figure out how to put a diaper on, what else am I going to get wrong?" Deeks sank onto the bench with a sigh and shoved both hands through his hair again. This practice session was supposed to make him feel better about his parenting skills and instead it only make him feel more inept.

"Deeks, all parents feel like that. It's only natural," Sam said. When Deeks didn't respond, he grasped his shoulders and looked him directly in the eye. "And I happen to know you're going to be a great father."

"You can't possibly know that."

"I do. And I'll tell you how. Every time you pick up that baby, you hold it like it's the most precious thing in the world. Just like Kensi does. That alone tells me you two are going to great at this, even if you have a few stumbles along the way."

"Thanks, Sam," he muttered.

"No problem," Sam replied with an easy shrug. "Now are you ready to try this again? I figure we got about 20 minutes before Callen comes in."

Deeks stood up with a sigh and straightened the baby, undoing the tabs. This time he was sure to leave enough room that he could slip his finger in the waistband, per Sam's instructions. When they were both looking down at the neatly diapered baby with satisfied expressions he asked,

"Hey, uh, you're not going to tell anyone that I freaked out over changing a diaper, right?" Sam laughed and shook his head.

"Nah, I wouldn't do that to you. I mean, not unless you really annoy me or something." Patting Deeks on the shoulder again, he added, "Next time we'll tackle burping."

"Awesome," Deeks groaned.


	13. Old Friends

A/N: For today's prompt: Kensi and Deeks run into Polina and Brett. There a slight amount of mature content.

* * *

"Geez, I didn't expect this place to be this crowded," Deeks said, staring at the almost completely crowded floor of the bar they'd just entered.

"Well, it has only been open for a month," Kensi pointed out. Adopting a long suffering expression, Deeks asked,

"Can we not be trendy today and go to one of our other beloved and apparently unknown places? Or you know, the bar we happen to own?" Kensi rolled her eyes and bravely took a step forward.

"This place is supposed to have killer Bloody Marys, with appetizers. Pickles, onions, cheese sticks. That's the whole reason we came, remember?"

"I think I can live without the Bloody Mary. And aren't you the one who's always saying that fried food is-"

"Justin?" A high pitched voice interrupted Deeks and he turned instinctively, not because of the name but rather because said voice screeched right in his ear. "It is you! Justin and Melissa, I told Brett it was you."

Deeks looked down in confusion for a second and then turned to Kensi who wore a similar look of horror as they both recognized Polina Grafetta. She'd let her hair grow out to her mid-back and she looked a bit older, but it was definitely her.

She didn't seem to notice their less than ecstatic response and waved across the room, shouting,

"Brett, come here! It is Melissa and Justin." In the half minute that it took Brett to make his way over, Deeks glanced at Kensi again and desperately tried to think of what to do. Polina had already grabbed his upper arm and was leaning against him in a proprietary way.

"Well, I never expected to see you two again," Brett said, smiling at their apparent good fortune. "I thought we'd scared you off."

"It did seem like that didn't it," Kensi said between her teeth. Brett remained as blissfully ignorant to their discomfort as Polina and reached out to squeeze Kensi's shoulder.

"Melissa, you look better than ever." He reached for Deeks' hand and he automatically shook it. "And Justin, you look like you've been working out. Looking good."

"Uh, thanks. So um, what have you guys been up to?" Deeks asked which earned a horrified look from Kensi. Brett chuckled knowingly.

"Oh you know, work's been crazy. Never enough time for our hobbies," he said. Both he and Polina chuckled this time and he wrapped his arm around her waist. "If you know what I mean."

"That's so nice," Kensi said in an overly enthusiastic voice. "We were actually just-"

"Why don't you come sit at our table? Polina and I are always open to another couple joining us." Brett interrupted, lowering his voice as he said the last part. He squeezed Deeks' shoulder in an overly familiar and definitely uncomfortable way. The wink he added didn't help.

"We really-"

"Oh, but we insist."

"If I see so much as one handcuff, I am out of here," Kensi hissed between her teeth as they followed Brett and Polina to a four person table. Deeks nodded in agreement; he had no desire to reacquaint himself with the BDSM loving couple.

"So, what have you two been up to all these years?" Polina asked once there was a fresh round of drinks on the table. She directed the question to Deeks.

"Oh you know, just keeping busy. Moved a couple times," Deeks answered, trying recall if Justin had a job. Kensi kicked him under the table, but it was too late.

Both Polina and Brett's eyes lit up at the mention of moving.

"The neighborhood hasn't been the same since you left," Polina said with a tiny sigh.

"We were only housesitting for a few weeks and that was about 8 years ago," Kensi pointed out in a very non-Melissa like voice. Brett chuckled warmly and clasped Kensi's hands between his. She shifted back, looking like she'd like to jerk free.

"Melissa, some people leave a hole no matter how short a time you knew them. To be honest, we've never met anyone quite like you and Justin," Brett explained.

There was an awkward silence as Deeks searched around for something to say and Kensi took a long drink of her beer. The other couple didn't seemed bothered, watching them with unnerving attention. Their eagerness was almost palpable.

Polina leaned across the table, revealing a good amount of cleavage and ran the tip of her nail down Deeks' arm.

"You know, we'd still welcome you into our…"special room"," she murmured as Brett nodded gravely. Deeks let out a strangled laugh.

"That's incredibly kind of you but-"

"We've redecorated and upgraded so many things, you wouldn't even recognize the place," she continued hurriedly. "Just last week we bought a new sw-" Kensi's chair slid back from the table with a screech and she stood up quickly.

"I'm afraid I'm not feeling very well," she said tightly. "You know, morning sickness." Polina made a distressed sound and Brett started to reach for Kensi's hand again, but she had already grabbed her bag and jacket and turned away.

Deeks tried to think of something to say, but ended up just shrugging as Polina and Brett continued to look between him and Kensi's retreating form with distraught expressions. Giving a wave, he hastily followed after Kensi.

He found Kensi waiting outside with her arms crossed over her chest.

"They give me the creeps," she informed him, pointing in the direction of the bar.

"Well, somehow I think they got the message that we're not interested," Deeks said wryly.

"I hope so." She shivered, her nose scrunched in distaste as they started walking to his truck.

"You know, I seem to remember after our last encounter with Brett and Polina, you started telling me about a very special, Kensi Private Time, but you never got to finish," he reminded her, raising his brows lasciviously when Kensi turned to glare at him.

"And you aren't hearing the end of it now," she said, rolling her eyes at him. Then apparently reconsidering, she added, "Unless you make me the best Blood Mary I've ever had. I never got my cheese sticks and I am very hungry."

"Deal," he agreed immediately.


	14. Seduction

A/N: Deeks is a little exhausted by his and Kensi's baby-making efforts. Has some mature content.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Kensi asked, sitting down beside Deeks on their couch. He had his laptop open in front of him on the coffee table along with several ledgers and pens.

"Finishing up the inventory and receipts for this month," Deeks answered slowly as he typed something in an excel box. He paused to write a number in one of the ledgers and then added, "It looks like we're actually starting to see a pick-up in sales."

"That's great," Kensi said genuinely, leaning into his side. She looped her free arm through his and snuggled up against him. After several minutes of watching him work, she ran her fingers through his hair. "I've always love it when you do paperwork."

"Really?" he asked, frowning, but still focused on his work and not paying that much attention.

"Mm-hm, it's a very sexy look on you," she murmured, pressing her lips to his neck while she continued to trails her fingers through his hair. Deeks made a soft humming sound in the back of his throat, relaxing slightly into her touch.

"Wait a second," he said, jerking back suddenly with an accusatory expression. "are you trying to seduce me?" He sounded absolutely appalled by the idea.

"Of course not." She reached for his arm again but he pulled back. "Can't I compliment my husband without being accused of having ulterior motives?" Deeks rolled his eyes and said,

"You were commenting on my ability to do paperwork." Huffing out a sigh, Kensi gave up all pretense.

"We need to have sex," she said bluntly.

"We did. Five times last night," Deeks pointed out, reaching back to rub his shoulder. At some point she'd gotten a little overly aggressive and bitten Deeks a lot harder than she intended.

"Sorry about that," she murmured guiltily, replacing his hands with hers and gently rubbing the abused skin. "But you know we've only got a few days where I'm most fertile. We have to take advantage of every moment that we can."

"But I'm tired, Kensi. It feels like all we do is have sex, which sounds great in theory, but actually it's just really exhausting."

"If we waste this opportunity, I might not get pregnant this month."

"Can't I just have like 12 hours off to recuperate?" Deeks begged, looking at Kensi imploringly. "I'm not sure little Marty is up to the challenge."

"Really?" Kensi asked with raised eyebrows. She unceremoniously shoved the laptop towards the middle of the table and swung a leg over Deeks' hips so she was straddling him. Looking him straight in the eyes, she stripped her shirt off, arching her back. Deeks swallowed harshly as she rested her hands on his shoulders. His hands settled automatically on her hips, pulling her towards him.

Kensi smiled victoriously as she felt him jerk against her. Little Marty was definitely awake.

"Oh my god," he groaned. "This might kill me."

"I take full responsibility," she whispered, leaning down to kiss him.


	15. Five Years

A little drabble in honor of today being the fifth anniversary of Densi going 'all in'.

* * *

Kensi leaned back against Deeks' chest, humming softly in contentment. They'd gone for an evening walk on the beach and even though it was a little bit chilly, the sunset was lovely. Plus, it never hurt when her partner was by her side.

"You know what today is?" she asked Deeks. He snuggled her a little closer, swaying gently from side to side.

"Sunday the 15th." Kensi rolled her eyes at him

"And…" she prompted.

"I feel like I'm missing something very obvious right now," he said and she turned around in his arms, smiling gently.

"It's the fifth anniversary of the day we decided to go all in," she reminded him and his eyes widened.

"Oh, I remember now!"

"Sure you do."

"No, I do. We were at the ice rink, you kept falling over-"

"That's a blatant exaggeration," Kensi interrupted, but Deeks didn't seem bothered, grinning at her as he continued.

"Then you pulled me aside and said that you wanted to be bold and stop playing games." He brushed her hair back from her face, his expression tender as he reminisced. "And that was when we decided to go all-in."

"You're feeling pretty pleased with yourself right now, aren't you," Kensi guessed and his smile turned smug for a moment.

"A little bit. But I'm also thinking about how that was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life," he said and Kensi felt her throat tighten unexpectedly.

"Mine too," she whispered, leaning up to kiss him firmly. "I haven't regretted it for a moment."

"Happy Anniversary, baby," Deeks said, wrapping his arms more tightly around her. Kensi laid her head on his chest, completely content.


	16. The Showdown

A/N: We had a request for a baby diapering finale/showdown. I have to say, this is one of the more ridiculous things I've written.

* * *

"What have you been doing?" Kensi demanded, suddenly appearing in front of Deeks' desk.

"Um, monthly mileage report?" he offered, looking up slowly in confusion.

"No, I mean what have you been doing every morning before work? I know you weren't surfing and you weren't working out because Eric said he saw you here at 6 in the morning, talking to Sam."

"Kensi, it's not what-"

"Oh, you had better not say what I think you're about to say," Kensi warned him. Sam nudged his shoulder and said,

"You better tell her, Deeks. No point in trying to keep it a secret now." Kensi looked fairly alarmed by this and crossed her arms. Callen, who'd been minding his own business up to this point, leaned forward, apparently interested in what his partner and Deeks had been getting up to.

"I suppose you're right," he sighed. "Baby, don't get mad at me, but…Sam's been helping me practice stuff for when the baby comes."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Oh, just burping, swaddling, and diapering." He said it quickly as though it would somehow make it better. Kensi stared at him in disbelief for a moment and then gasped.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Callen wheezed, clearly delighted by the idea, but Kensi didn't seem nearly as amused.

"You're trying to beat my time!" she accused him. Deeks sputtered out a laugh.

"No, I was just trying to make sure I can change a diaper without having to call in the cavalry." Kensi scrutinized him with narrowed eyes while Sam just watched with a bemused expression.

"You're unbelievable," she said finally. "I want a showdown."

"You what?"

"I want a showdown. Just you, me and two fake babies," Kensi said fiercely, but her lip twitched slightly, letting him know she wasn't entirely serious.

"You know, that sounds way more terrifying than I think you realize," he said.

"A Diaper Showdown," Callen said around a chuckle. Kensi rounded on him with a dangerous expression and he instinctively leaned back in surprise.

"You can judge," she decided.

"I'm not judging a ridi-" Callen paused halfway through, obviously remembering the last time he'd used the word 'ridiculous'. "I'd be honored," he finished dryly.

"Wonderful." Kensi smiled cheerfully at him.

"So, rumor has it you guys are having a little competition," Eric said, entering the room with Nell by his side. They looked positively giddy.

"Apparently, we're having a Diaper Showdown," Callen explained, obviously having accepted his role in the whole thing. "Would you care to place a bet? The pot goes to whoever guesses the closest time."

"Now wait a second," Deeks started to say.

"Ooh, I'll put ten on Kensi for 2 minutes and 53 seconds," Nell said, turning to Deeks apologetically. "Sorry Deeks, but I've seen Kensi in action. She's good."

"I feel weirdly insulted," Deeks commented.

"I'll put ten on Deeks for three minutes exactly," Eric said. Sam rolled his eyes and said,

"Oh, what the hell, five on Deeks for three minutes and 10 seconds."

"I feel like that's a conflict of interest since you've been training Deeks," Callen pointed out.

"Doesn't matter because I'm going to win," Kensi said confidently.

"Ok, now you have a fight on your hands," Deeks said, getting to his feet and cracking his fingers. "And be warned, I've been trained by a master."

A few minutes later, everyone had gathered in the gym. Eric and Nell set up a makeshift baby changing center on one of the benches while Kensi grabbed the dolls.

When they were behind their stations, Sam walked to the center of the room.

"Alright, ground rules for today's competition: you need to wipe, powder and diaper each baby. The diaper must be facing the right direction and you need to use three wipes. And if you drop or otherwise concuss your baby, you're immediately disqualified," he explained.

Despite himself, Deeks felt a hint of moisture gather in the middle of his back. He flexed his fingers a few times and glanced over at Kensi who was focused as if she was preparing for battle.

"On the count of three. 1, 2, 3!" The moment Sam stopped speaking, Deeks grabbed a diaper from the pack, yanked it open and spread it out, face down on the table. He chanced another glance over at Kensi and saw that she already had the diaper open and was opening the packet of wipes with a practiced jab of her finger.

Turning his attention back to his own work, he struggled with the little plastic tab on the wipe package. Finally, he ripped it open out of desperation and yanked out three wipes at once. He was swiping the second cloth over the baby's plastic bottom when something fell to the ground as Kensi shouted,

"Crap!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw she'd knocked the baby powder over. He almost felt sorry for her as she laboriously sank into a squat and tried to reach under the bench. Almost.

Tossing the third wipe to the side, he grabbed his own bottle of baby powder, once again struggling with the top. It popped open, emitting a cloud of white that coated his face, the bench and most of the baby. Suppressing a cough, he sprinkled a bit more powder on the baby's bottom for good measure and reached for the diaper.

About 30 seconds later, both he and Kensi shouted, "Done!" There was a moment of anticlimactic silence and then Nell asked,

"Soooo do we break the tie with a burping contest?" Deeks couldn't tell if she was serious or not.

"It wouldn't be a tie if I hadn't had to pick that bottle up off the floor. I was way ahead of Deeks," Kensi pointed out, cradling her baby in the crook of her arm.

"That doesn't seem very sportsmanlike. Maybe we should have a rematch," Deeks suggested. Callen stood up from his designated judging spot and said,

"No need. As judge of this competition, I declare Kensi the winner."

"Wait, what? You didn't even look at my work." Deeks held his baby up to show off the neatly secured tabs.

"Doesn't matter, Deeks. You covered your baby in baby powder. I'm sure there's a rule against that in some parenting book. Plus now someone has to clean up the floor and bench," Callen said and Sam rolled his eyes.

"So you're disqualifying me because I made a mess?" Deeks asked.

"Pretty much." Kensi danced over with a wide grin in place and patted Deeks on the shoulder.

"Oh, don't feel so bad, baby, I'm sure there'll be other things you'll be good at," she said, chuckling as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I want a rematch," he demanded and Kensi laughed.

"Sorry, not happening. Callen declared me the winner of the diaper showdown."

"When you think about it, does this whole thing strike you as really odd," Nell asked Eric as Kensi and Deeks continued to banter about the actual winner. Eric shrugged, considering the question.

"Compared to all the other weird stuff we've done, not really."


	17. Glasses

A/N: This idea, along with bits of the fic, were kindly provided by mashmaiden.

* * *

Kensi walked into the kitchen and stopped short as she caught sight of Deeks. He was sitting at the table with his laptop, focused on something on the screen. And he was wearing glasses. They were black with the kind of narrow, rectangular rims that had been so popular several years ago.

"What are you wearing?" she blurted out, drawing Deeks' attention from his work. He frowned and glanced down at his shirt.

"I thought you liked this shirt," he said, plucking at the dark blue t-shirt. It did happen to be a favorite of hers, but Kensi didn't let herself be distracted by that fact.

"I'm talking about this," she said, motioning to her face. Deeks immediately reached for his hair, bumping his glasses in the process.

"Oh, these. I almost forgot I was wearing them."

"Why are you wearing them?" He shrugged and shoved them slightly further on the bridge of his nose and said,

"My eyes have been feeling kind of strained so I thought I'd see if these would help," he explained. Kensi had never seen him wear glasses other than undercover and couldn't imagine when he'd had time to get them.

"You never told me you ever wore glasses," she said, knowing she sounded a little judgmental.

"I didn't really. A couple months after I became a cop, I got a concussion. It wasn't too bad, but my vision was a little blurry when I read for too long. My doctor said I probably would need to wear glasses for a little while," Deeks told her, tapping the arm piece of said glasses. "I'm actually surprised I still had them and that they still work for me."

Kensi didn't say anything after he stopped speaking and he blushed slightly under her scrutiny. It was kind of adorable that she could still affect him like that after all this time.

"I know, they probably look pretty stupid," he said self-consciously, reaching to take them off. Kensi stopped him with a wave of her hand and said,

"No, wait." She tilted her head to the side, quietly considering the new look. "I think I like it," she decided.

"Really?" Deeks asked, clearly surprised. Kensi nodded, finally smiling.

"It's different, but it's actually kind of sexy." Deeks' mouth slowly widened in a grin and he drawled out a second,

"Really." Kensi rolled her eyes at him, walking over until she stood right up against his side.

"Yes," she confirmed with a fond smile. "But it could use a little tweaking." She gently rearranged the hair around the arm pieces until they were just visible through his fluffy blonde strands. When she was satisfied, she bent down to kiss him.

"Better?" Deeks asked, stealing another kiss.

"Perfect," she confirmed. He started to reach for her waist, but she danced away, shaking her head. "Uh-Uh, finish your work. We can play later."

"I'm gonna hold you to that," he said and Kensi smirked as she walked back out of the kitchen.

"I'm counting on it. Oh, and don't forget to wear the glasses."


	18. Defend

A/N: For today's prompt: Kensi or Deeks coming to the other's defense.

* * *

"Ma'am, I'm sorry but I can't let you into the building," Kensi heard Deeks saying as she redirected a small family who'd been heading for a side entrance. She discretely stretched her back and flexed her toes, feeling the stress of standing on her feet for hours without rest.

While searching a suspect's apartment, they'd found bomb components. They'd immediately cleared the building and called in the bomb squad. That had been two hours ago and in the meantime, she, Deeks, and a couple of other agents were in charge of keeping residents from entering.

Understandably, many weren't very happy, but most accepted the gas leak story they were using as a cover. A few; however, were not so accepting. Like the woman who Deeks was currently arguing with. She had a short blonde bob, was dressed in workout clothes and didn't seem used to being told 'no'.

"What do you mean you can't let me in?" The woman said derisively and Kensi winced. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Detective Marty Deeks, LAPD, Ma'am," Deeks answered.

"Right, and I'm Angelina Jolie. I don't know who you really are or what you think you're doing, but I need to get into my apartment."

"I know this is an inconvenience and I apologize, but it is not safe for you to go in the building at this time," Deeks repeated in a purposely calm tone.

Kensi turned to redirect a man who was eyeing the yellow tape over the entrance door when she heard Deeks cry out. She spun around in time to see the blonde woman aim a kick at his groin.

He sidestepped enough that her foot glanced off his thigh instead. Deeks had his hand raised in a defensive gesture, but hadn't moved to actively stop the woman. Kensi was moving before she even realized it and yanked the woman away from Deeks.

She didn't wait for her to respond, bringing her to the ground with a well-placed sweep of her legs. Kensi twisted her arms behind her back, shoving her to the ground with a bit more force than was absolutely necessary.

"Let me go," the woman snarled.

"You're under arrest for assaulting an LAPD Detective," Kensi informed her.

"Are you ok?" she asked, looking up at Deeks. He had one hand cupped over his mouth, but he nodded.

Assured that he was alright for the moment, Kensi tugged the woman to her feet and handed her over to another agent. Deeks was sitting on the bottom step to the apartment complex when she returned.

"Here, let me look," she said, turning his head to the side so she could see his lip. There was a nasty split that was still bleeding sluggishly, but she didn't think it would need stitches. "Does anything feel broken?" She gently pressed on his jaw and he winced.

"No, I don't think so. But I am feeling pretty stupid right now," he responded, rolling his eyes, apparently at himself.

"Why," Kensi asked with a frown. He shrugged.

"I could have stopped that lady pretty easily, but I just stood there and let her hit me," he explained, smiling ruefully.

"Well, first of all, I don't think you just let her hit you. Secondly, I know why you didn't fight back. And I respect that."

"Yeah, but what if she was actually dangerous?" Deeks asked, and Kensi wasn't sure which of them he was asking. She knew he found it hard to fight women. She also knew he was fully capable of taking down a woman if absolutely necessary.

"Then I think you would have made the right decision," she answered honestly. Deeks seemed slightly reassured and smiled at her in quiet appreciation.

"Mm, thanks for taking care of the mean lady for me." Kensi snorted and brushed his hair back from his face.

"Anytime. Now let's go clean you up." She helped him to his feet and added, "I always be there to keep you safe."


	19. A Glimpse of What Could Be

A/N: For today's prompt: Kensi and Deeks interacting with a kid/kids. Deeks acquires an unexpected friend at the beach.

* * *

Deeks was bent over his board, rubbing wax into it in small even circles when a shadow suddenly blocked out the sunlight. He looked up and found a girl watching him with interest.

"What are you doing?" she asked, maintaining a distance of 3 or 4 feet.

"Waxing my board," Deeks told her.

"Why?" He smirked slightly and said,

"If I didn't wax it, I'd slip off my board when I got in the water. I mean, I do that anyway, but it would be a lot worse without the wax." She giggled, stepping closer until she was right next to him.

"You're funny. My name's Samantha. What's yours?" Samantha appeared to be about 9 or 10. She had dark brown hair pulled back in a tight, slightly damp ponytail and wore a bright blue swimsuit with a heart pattern splashed across the center.

"I'm Marty," he offered, extending his hand. Samantha looked taken aback for a second but then accepted it readily enough with a small grin. "Nice to meet you."

Apparently Samantha had decided he was trust worthy enough because she settled into a cross legged position as Deeks resumed his waxing.

"Do you come here a lot?" Samantha asked after a few minutes.

"Whenever I can," he answered. "But I work a lot sometimes so I don't always have time." He sighed wistfully.

"I'm from Indiana and we go to the beach there all the time, but I've never been here before. We're on vacation." From the sound of her voice, she didn't sound thrilled.

"Sounds like a pretty good vacation to me," Deeks replied and looked at her in time to see her roll her eyes.

"I wanted to go to Keylime Cove. But Dad had a lot of miles from work so we came here instead." Deeks set his wax and comb to the side and turned to face the girl.

"Speaking of your dad, is he around?" Even though Samantha seems fairly independent, he was a little surprised that no one had come looking for her yet. There were a few people around, but none of them seemed likely candidates for Samantha's parents.

"He's back at the house with my mom. My older brother's supposed to be watching me, but I think he's looking at girls instead." She made a disgusted face and then leaned forward in a conspiratorial way. "He doesn't have very good taste," she confided and Deeks smirked again. He'd only just met her, but he appreciated Samantha's matter of fact attitude.

"That's too bad."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Actually, I'm married," he told Samantha who looked slightly disappointed by his answer. Before she could ask, he added, "Her name is Kensi and she's super awesome. She's like a ninja." Samantha narrowed her eyes at him, looking suspicious for the first time.

"You married a ninja?" she asked dubiously.

"Well, she's kind of like a cop but she's also as ninja like as you can get without actually being a ninja."

"You say a lot of silly things, don't you?" Samantha decided. "Can I help you with your surfboard?"

Kensi jogged back to the spot she'd left Deeks half an hour ago, slowly coming down to a walk. She was a little surprised he wasn't out in the water yet. As she got closer, she saw he wasn't alone.

"No, you want to make it more circular," he was saying to the girl kneeling beside him. Kensi watched in quiet awe as he demonstrated the proper technique while the girl hung on his every word.

"Deeks," she said, laying her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her with a smile, setting the can of wax to the side.

"Hey baby, did you have a good run?"

"Yeah. Who's your friend?" The little girl beside Deeks was watching them with great interest.

"Oh, this is my good friend Samantha. She's been helping get my board in shape. Samantha, this is Kensi," he said, waving his hand grandly when he introduced the dark haired girl. She got to her feet, brushing off her knees, and then stared at Kensi for several seconds, her head tilted to the side. Kensi felt an absurd rush of nervousness.

"You're pretty," she decided. "Marty says you're both cops. I think I want to be a police officer too, especially if I can marry my partner. But only if he's not gross like Tommy Parker." Kensi shot Deeks a look and he shrugged innocently. It seemed Deeks had developed a bond with Samantha in a short amount of time.

"It sounds like you two had quite the conversation," Kensi said with wry bemusement. She would never quite understand Deeks' ability to connect with kids so easily. If she was honest, it made her a little jealous.

"Well we had to do something while we worked."

"Uh-huh." Kensi rolled her eyes at him as Samantha sat back down and picked up the waxing supplies, waiting for further instruction.

"Remember, when we finish this we're going to go look for you brother. I'm sure he's worried about you by now," Deeks reminded her and she gave a loud sigh.

"Fine. He probably won't even notice I'm gone though," Samantha said, but she didn't protest anymore. Kensi say down on the other side of the surfboard, watching the sun glinting off their light and dark hair.

Occasionally, Samantha would ask her a question, keeping her included in the conversation. The afternoon certainly hadn't ended up the way she'd planned, but Kensi sat contentedly, watching Deeks teach the little girl how to apply wax in a circular motion.


	20. Always in my Heart

A/N: For today's prompt: Kensi and Deeks run into our second favorite Russian, Kirkin.

* * *

"Ok, what else do we need?" Kensi asked as Deeks checked off items from the list on his phone. She had one arm looped through his while a half full basket dangled off the other.

"Avocados and sour cream," he answered after a moment. "Oh, and something for dessert. Cause you know mama's gonna expect-"

"Maaaarty!" Deeks froze as an all too familiar voice interrupted him.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, looking at Kensi. She gave him a sympathetic look and suggested,

"Keep walking. If we pretend he's not here, maybe he'll actually go away this time." Following her advice, they picked up their pace.

"When has running away from him ever worked?" Deeks wondered as they reached the end of the aisle and a hand brushed his shoulder. Sighing, they turned around and came face-to-face with an absolutely beaming Anatoli Kirkin.

"Marty," he repeated, the name sounding oddly intimate when he said it. He clasped his hands on Deeks' elbows and for a second, he was afraid Kirkin was about to hug him. "I knew it was you."

"Kirkin." Deeks nodded as Kirkin reached for Kensi's hand, squeezing it firmly.

"Kensi you grow more ravishing every time I see you. Marty is certainly a lucky man." He winked knowingly and Deeks rolled his eyes. Kensi discreetly retrieved her hand, tucking it into her pocket.

"Why are you here, Kirkin? Please tell me you're not following me again?" Deeks said, ending the small talk and getting to the heart of the matter.

"No, not this time. It is but a mere happy coincidence," Kirkin replied cheerfully, looking extremely happy. Apparently he didn't take offense at being accused of stalking Deeks.

"Really? You don't strike me as the kind of guy who does his own shopping." Kirkin waved an airy hand to encompass the store as a whole.

"Sometimes I like to go out among the common people. It makes me feel…like just another guy out in the world."

"And what about your bodyguards?" Kensi asked wryly which earned a careless chuckle from Kirkin.

"Oh, they're are around somewhere, amusing themselves," he answered.

"Well, this chat has been delightful, but we have plans-" Deeks started to say. Kirkin made a desperate grab for him and he took another step back. He felt Kensi's hands twitch on his arm like she was resisting the urge to react physically.

"Please, don't go. Come have dinner with me tonight," Kirkin offered with obvious desperation. Apparently hearing himself, he licked his lips and said more calmly, "It's been so long since I've had good friends to talk to."

"That's a lovely offer, but we actually have plans. With Deeks' mother," Kensi said. The last part earned her a glare from Deeks and she shrugged apologetically.

"Bring her along. The more the merrier!" Deeks almost laughed at the image of Roberta meeting Anatoli Kirkin. With his luck, she'd probably adore him. That was definitely not happening.

"We wouldn't want to impose."

"Oh Kensi, it's never an imposition. You are always welcome in my home."

"How comforting," Deeks commented under his breath, grabbing Kensi's arm and starting to tug her backwards. "We really do need to go Kirkin, best of luck with the dinner party."

"Marty, please, this isn't about what happened at the wedding, is it? I accept that we can't be…more, but there's no reason we cannot remain friends," Kirkin pleaded, his expression anguished.

"Were we ever friends, Kirkin? Cause I seem to remember you-in between committing crimes-trying to barter for me and kidnap me. That doesn't exactly sound like friends to me," Deek said, done with pacifying him.

"In my heart we were and always will be friends." Kirkin actually rested both hands over his heart and gazed longingly at Deeks.

"And that is definitely our cue to leave," Kensi decided.

"Marty, there's always a room and bed waiting for you, should you ever change your mind!" he called out as they hurried away.


	21. Dinner Guest

A/N: mashmaiden and bluenet13 mentioned that they'd like to see Mama Deeks and Kirkin meet. Things might have gotten a little ridiculous.

* * *

Deeks pressed a lingering kiss to Kensi's lips as they finished a slow dance and then straightened.

"I'll be right back," he said, unable to stop smiling.

"Where are you going?" Kensi asked, smoothing her hands up his back.

"I wanna check on Mama. I haven't seen her in a while."

"I'm sure she's ok." Deeks pulled back, raising an eyebrow at Kensi.

"You've seen her when she's had a few drinks and there's been a lot of champagne floating around tonight," he reminded her and Kensi nodded in concession.

"Mm, yeah, go check on her," she said, leaning in to kiss him again. "But hurry back."

Deeks expected to find his mom flirting with one of his friends or sharing embarrassing stories with the team. What he found instead was so much worse; his mom was seated at a back table, appearing to be very engrossed in conversation with Anatoli Kirkin.

"Mom, what are you doing?" he hissed.

"Oh, Martin, you scared me! I'm just talking to this nice gentleman," she explained, gesturing to Kirkin who smiled benignly up at Deeks.

"Mom, he's wearing handcuffs!" Deeks said, his voice rising slightly.

"Well, that's not my fault."

"Your lovely Mother was just telling me stories from when you were a boy," Kirkin offered and Deeks glared down at him. He'd need to have a talk with Eric and Nell about their babysitting duties.

"Why exactly are you still here?" he asked Kirkin, who waved his hands dismissively, apparently unencumbered by the handcuffs.

"Oh, apparently it's taking some time for the proper authorities to come for me. So I figured, why not enjoy myself? You're mother truly is a delight." Roberta and Kirkin shared a smile and Deeks rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, she's great."

"You should come over for dinner sometime, Anatoli," Roberta suggested. Shaking his head in disbelief, Deeks repeated,

"Again, Mom, he's wearing handcuffs. He's a criminal and he tried to kidnap me today." Roberta sighed, smacking him lightly on the leg.

"Kiddo, you're awfully tense for someone who just got married. Now, Anatoli, do you like pot roast or lasagna better? Marty loves my lasagna, but since you're the guest…"

"Oh of course we must have Marty's favorite," Kirkin said eagerly.

"Oh my god," Deeks groaned. "You're not going to make dinner for him! He's going back to prison-which he will probably finagle his way out of-and you are absolutely not to tell him anymore stories about me."

"But Maaarty, you were such a charming boy," Kirkin whined. "And I make a wonderful guest. I will bring my famous Death by Chocolate cake."

"I need another drink," Deeks sighed as Roberta and Kirkin started swapping dessert recipes.

When he made his way back to Kensi, he was significantly calmer, having turned Kirkin over to a couple of agents and consumed two glasses of champagne in quick succession.

"That took a while, what was your mom doing?" Kensi asked as he once again pulled her into his arms and started swaying to the music.

"You don't want to know," he sighed into her neck, then added after a moment, "But if she invites us to dinner in the near future, we can't make it."

"If you're referring Kirkin, she's already texted me. Oh, and he's bringing a cheesecake, assuming he gets out of prison in time," Kensi said, patting him on the shoulder as he groaned again. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from Kirkin if necessary."

"Best wife ever," he muttered.


	22. Blame it on the Pants

A/N: For today's prompt: Kensi or Deeks get caught acting inappropriately at work. Takes place in the first couple years they're together.

* * *

Kensi eyes automatically followed Deeks as he stood up and walked across the bullpen, headed towards OPS. Seemingly of its own will, her gaze focused on his butt. He was wearing tight blue jeans, the ones that made his butt and legs looks awesome. He was blissfully unaware that she was totally checking him out, which somehow made it even better. Her mind drifted to divesting him of those jeans as she watched the muscles in his legs flex while he climbed the stairs, every movement on full display.

"Alright, you owe me five," she distantly heard Callen say, but tuned out Sam's response.

"She was definitely staring at his ass," he protested in a louder voice and Kensi's head whipped up.

"What did you just say?" she demanded.

"You were checking Deeks out," he repeated, turning back to Sam who shook his head in disagreement.

"I didn't see it."

"I was not checking Deeks out," Kensi protested loudly, forcing a laugh that made both men wince. Sam rolled his eyes, leaning forward with a sympathetic expression.

"Kensi, you guys do something inappropriate-staring, touching, innuendos-a minimum of three times a day. It's just a question of when it's going to happen," he explained, pointing a finger at Callen and adding, "You know the rules, we both have to see it or it doesn't count."

"Guys, I was just making sure that Deeks wasn't limping," Kensi lied hastily. "He was very sore this morning-"

"I'm sure he was," Callen interrupted dryly.

"From our workout," she continued with an icy glare.

"Oh, is that what the kids are calling it these days," Sam added, smirking so his dimples showed.

"Hey, do you-?" Deeks started to ask as he walked back into the bullpen but stopped short when he saw everyone staring at him. "What's going on?"

"I caught Kensi staring at your butt, again, and Sam won't pay up," Callen summed up. Deeks looked between them, seemingly unsure how to respond.

"Wait, you guys have been betting on us?" Kensi asked in outrage, finally picking up on that detail. Neither of her teammates looked even remotely contrite. In fact, Callen looked fairly smug.

"I've already won 20 bucks."

"That's a little weird, man," Deeks commented and Callen shrugged.

"I'm competitive."

"This is all your fault," Kensi snapped, smacking Deeks' arm.

"What did I do?" he protested, rubbing at his shoulder.

"If you weren't wearing those stupid pants, I wouldn't have been staring at you." Deeks appeared too flattered by her statement to examine the reasoning and grinned.

"So you're saying they make my butt look good," he surmised, leaning across Kensi's desk suggestively.

"You know we can still hear you, right?" Callen reminded them and Deeks glanced over his shoulder, his expression dismissive. Clearly there were more important things to be concerned about than his teammates hearing something inappropriate.

"Unfortunately. You guys could try to show at least a little discretion," Sam suggested, looking vaguely disturbed.

"And you still owe me five dollars," Callen repeated.


	23. Bad Day

For today's prompt: Densi after a bad case.

* * *

Kensi found Deeks' truck in the Squid and the Dagger parking lot. He'd disappeared while she was typing up her report. She wasn't mad that he'd left without telling her, but she was worried.

Their case today had not ended well; three innocent people had died and there was nothing any of them could do about it. Deeks had taken it particularly hard, clearly more so than she'd realized if he'd ended up here.

It was after hours so the place was empty, other than Deeks who sat at the bar, his head hung low between his shoulders. Kensi approached him silently, resting a hand on his shoulder as she took in the bottle of liquor and glass next to his elbow. It wasn't their finest stuff, but it would certainly get the job done if Deeks was looking to get drunk.

Deeks' shoulder twitching minutely beneath her hand was his only response.

"Are you ok," she asked.

"Yup," he responded through his teeth and threw pack a shot of what Kensi saw on closer inspection was actually scotch. It wasn't like Deeks to drink excessively, even in times of stress.

"This isn't going to fix anything, baby," she murmured and he let his face fall into his heads. He scrubbed them over his skin and hair before replying.

"I hate cases like this." His voice sounded bitter and sad.

"I know, me too." She started running her fingers over his neck in soothing circles.

"I felt so helpless, Kensi," he whispered, finally turning to face her. She swore there were creases around his eyes that hadn't been there that morning. His expression was heartbreaking and reawakened her own distress. It was days like these when she hated what they did, the days when no matter how hard they tried, they didn't save the day.

Wordlessly, she pulled Deeks into her arms, hoping to comfort them both. He held her tight against his chest, burying his head in her neck. She felt him breathing slowly and deeply for several moments and then he pulled back, settling her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I was going. Or think about how you were feeling. This has to be tearing you up too," he whispered, sounding angry with himself.

"It's ok. I understand. You needed a minute to think." He sighed and scrubbed at his eyes, looking a lot more like himself than he had a few minutes ago.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do," she answered honestly. "But right now I'm more worried about you."

"I'm fine." Kensi ran her fingers through his hair again and held his gaze.

"Babe, you're sitting in a dark, empty bar drinking $10 scotch by yourself. I think that's the very definition of not ok," Kensi told him and Deeks closed his eyes for a second.

"I swear I wasn't going to get drunk, I just needed something to take the edge off," he promised.

"And I believe you. I just don't want you drinking alone. Not like this." Deeks nodded, sighing deeply again.

"Let's go home," he said, pressing a distracted kiss to the side of her head. Even though he was trying hard to act normally, she knew his mind was still on the case.

"Tomorrow will be better," Kensi reassured him, even though she wasn't sure she fully believed it.

"God, I hope so," he said fervently.


	24. Merry Christmas, Baby

A/N: For today's prompt: Opening presents on Christmas Eve.

* * *

"But we've always opened presents on Christmas morning, aside from when we're busy catching bad guys," Deeks protested mildly as Kensi dragged him into the living room. "It's our tradition."

"All I'm asking you to do is open one present," Kensi replied, ignoring his complaints as she directed him to sit down in front of the Christmas tree. They'd already had dinner-their best attempt at roast chicken with mashed potatoes-and usually they'd be genially bickering over what movie to watch.

Apparently Kensi had other plans as she flicked off the main lights, leaving the room bathed in the dim, twinkling glow of Christmas tree lights. She was practically vibrating with anticipation.

"I'll be right back," she told him and then disappeared upstairs. She reappeared a couple minutes later with a small, thin box cradled between her palms. It was perfectly wrapped in silver paper with a shiny red bow and tiny ribbons dangling over the sides. He'd never known Kensi to wrap anything so carefully; he was definitely curious.

Kneeling down in front of him, Kensi laid the gift on his knee. Her expression was filled with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.

"What's in here, the keys to a fancy schmancy new car like on all the TV ads?" he guessed, turning the box from side to side. "Oh, I know one-way tickets to a nude beach resort." Kensi snorted at that and couldn't seem to resist leaning forward to kiss him.

"You are so ridiculous. Open it," she instructed him. He slid a finger under one seam, pulling the tape loose with one swift movement.

"Vouchers for rock climbing. My own ski jet." He continued listing off items of varying ridiculousness while he removed the wrapping paper. Underneath there was a plain white box and he lifted the lid off with the tips of his finger, watching for Kensi's reaction. She leaned forward on her knees slightly.

"If this isn't a-" he started to say, looking into the box. There was a small, oblong object nestled in red tissue paper. He lifted it out slowly, glancing back up at Kensi, his mouth open slightly in surprise, and found her with her hands pressed over her mouth. "Is this a-?"

"Mm-hm," Kensi answered.

"Oh my god, you're pregnant!" he shouted, reaching for Kensi. She crashed into his arms, grasping the back of his neck as she kissed him desperately. He felt moisture on his cheeks and pulled back enough to look at Kensi.

"Why are you crying?" he asked, breathless with happiness. Swiping at her cheeks, Kensi laughed, the sound shaky.

"Ugh…because I've been dying to tell you for five days," she answered.

"We're pregnant," he repeated, almost unable to believe it.

"I'm sorry it wasn't the keys to a new car," Kensi said playfully and he crushed her back against his chest.

"Are you kidding me, this is the best present ever." He was still holding the pregnancy test and he held it up, tilting his head. "Admittedly a little gross since you peed on it, but still the best present."

"Idiot," she said fondly, leaning in to kiss him again. Deeks tossed the pregnancy test back in the box, dragging her down to the floor with him. As Kensi settled on top of him, haloed in twinkling lights, he couldn't imagine being happier.

"Merry Christmas, baby," he whispered.

"Merry Christmas."


	25. Christmas Party

For today's prompt: Densi celebrating Christmas with the team. This one takes place a few years from now.

* * *

Kensi paused on her way to the kitchen to answer the door and found Eric and Nell on the other side.

"Merry Christmas!" They said in such perfect unity that Kensi bet they'd been practicing. They were dressed in matching Christmas tree sweaters with little Menorahs acting as a border. Eric was holding a dish wrapped in tinfoil which he presented to Kensi with a grin.

"Come on in," Kensi said happily, ushering them in. "I'm so glad you guys could make it." She gave them each a one-armed hug, the other occupied with the mystery dish.

"I know, we're late," Nell said with a roll of her eyes. "Blame it on the pregnant lady." She patted her baby bump as though any one could miss it on her tiny form and covered in bright green wool.

"Oh stop, the only ones who got here before you were Sam and the kids. And my mom, who's been here for hours," Kensi reassured her.

"Speaking of kids, where is my favorite niece?"

"Playing with Kam, they've been pretty much inseparable since they came," Kensi told them. Lily, their three year old, had seemed instantly taken with the teenager and insisted on showing off her room and toys. "C'mon they're in den. But first I'll put this in the kitchen."

"It's a white chocolate, red velvet cheesecake, so make sure it goes in the fridge," Eric said, his excitement clear. In the last couple years he'd picked up baking and kept them all supplied with a variety of desserts.

After dropping the cheesecake off in the kitchen, Kensi led them into the den. Deeks and Kam were sitting in the middle of the floor, with Lily between them and massive pile of Legos. From the looks of it, Lily had talked Kam into building her a mansion and was now adding in her own personal touches while she chattered away.

Sam was chatting with Julia by the fire while Aiden had found a secluded spot on one of the sectionals and was on his phone, no doubt texting his new girlfriend. The room felt bright and cheerful, filled with twinkling lights and happy people.

"Nell, Beale how's that baby doing?" Sam called.

"She's active. Very, very active," Nell answered with a touch of bitterness in her voice as she rubbed low on her abdomen. Eric rubbed her back soothingly, ushering her over to an armchair with pillows.

"Hey, look who we found lurking outside," Roberta Deeks said, coming into the room accompanied by a somewhat reluctant looking Callen.

"I was not lurking," he told them firmly as Roberta gave Kensi a hug and a tin of Christmas cookies.

"You should have joined me and the girls for drinks, then you wouldn't be so tense," she suggested. Callen looked mildly horrified by the idea, but chuckled and said,

"I'm not tense, I was actually making sure I didn't forget my Christmas gift."

Roberta was prevented from further harassment as Deeks wandered over with Lily hanging off of his arm and gave both Callen and his mom a hug.

"Grandma Deeks, Uncle Callen!" she shouted, catapulting herself off of Deeks and onto Callen. Fortunately he was used to this kind of treatment and braced himself. "Did you bring me presents?"

"Hey there. I did bring a present, but it's for you and your mom and dad," Callen said and Lily stuck out her lower lip.

"Don't worry, kiddo," Roberta said in a confidential whisper. "I got you covered."

"Mom, please tell me you didn't go crazy again this year," Deeks begged, likely thinking of the previous Christmas when she'd given Lily a doll house that wouldn't fit in her room.

"She's my only grandchild, I have to spoil her." With that she made a beeline for Julia. Deeks sighed with annoyed amusement.

"We're going to need a bigger house," he commented.

"And that is why I give cards," Callen said, swinging Lily up onto his hip. "C'mon squirt, let's see if we can find something to eat."

"Mama made brownies," she informed him in a loud whisper, her hand lifted to prevent her parents from hearing. Kensi tried not to laugh as she added, "I'm not supposed to have any until after dinner, but I know where they are."

"Well, I'm sure they won't notice if there's just a couple little pieces missing." Kensi shook her head as they headed off for the kitchen, Lily chattering away.

"Ugh, she is going to be so hyper by the end of tonight," Kebsi said, leaning against Deeks' chest. He rested his chin on the top her head, wrapping his arms around her.

"Yeah, but it's worth it to see everyone together and happy," Deeks pointed out. A minute later, Lily came running back in with Callen trailing her at a slower pace. He was munching on a brownie and she had one in each hand. The first she offered to Nell with a kind of reverential awe, the second she split in half and shared with Sam.

"Yeah, it is," she agreed. They stood for a few for minutes, content in one another's arms as they watched their strange little family.


	26. The Cookie Hangover

A/N: This one takes place the morning after yesterday's story.

* * *

Deeks groaned, shifting onto his back, his eyes still squeezed shut. There was a tiny foot digging into his ribs and his head felt like it used to after an all-nighter back in college. He was vaguely aware of Kensi moving around next to him.

"Oh my god, why do I feel hungover?" he moaned, shoving his face into his pillow for a minute. Kensi didn't respond so he turned his head and found her laying on her back, two fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Not so loud," she whispered.

"I only had two beers last night."

"I didn't have any," Kensi said. "Is it possible to have a cookie hangover?" Deeks eased himself up onto his elbows, gently extracting Lily's foot from his side. Taking after her mother, she was spread out between them, taking up an incredible amount of space for someone so small.

"I don't know, how many did you eat?" he asked, starting to feel ever so slightly less terrible. Kensi shrugged, grasping her head.

"No idea. And then there were the brownies and ice cream. Oh, and Eric's freaking cheesecake. I think I might die," she whispered.

"I can't believe everyone stayed until 2. And my mom and Callen…" Deeks trailed off, unable to find words to express the memory. Kensi picked up where he left off.

"Singing "Jingle Bell Rock" while they did shots of tequila. I think that was one of the most surreal things I've ever seen. I didn't even know we had tequila."

"Not sure I can look at either of them for a while." Kensi reached over to brush his hair soothingly. "Do you think this means we're getting old?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"We're not old, we just aren't used to partying anymore," Kensi said, rolling onto her side. She looked a little less near death, but there were dark circles under her eyes.

"We almost fell asleep before nine," he pointed out.

"We're not old," Kensi repeated around a giant yawn. As if it would prove her point, she leaned across her pillow and kissed him firmly. Her fingers slid up into his hair and Deeks eased a hand free to cup her neck-

"I'm hungry," a sleepy sounding voice said. Deeks had approximately three seconds warning before Lily landed on his chest, her knees finding convenient place holders in his rib cage. Ignoring his groan of pain, she added "I want waffles."

"Daddy will make them for you in a few minutes," Kensi said, smirking tiredly at him when he narrowed his eyes.

"Sure, kiddo," Deeks agreed. Lily grinned and scampered off the bed.

"I'm gonna pay barbies and shopping," she said as she skipped out of the room. "And I want syrup and butter and sawbewwies."

"How does she have so much energy?" Deeks let his head flop back on his pillow with a muffled thud. Beside him, Kensi had curled up under the covers again.

"I don't know, but wake me up when the waffles are ready," she said.


	27. Flesh Wound

A/N: For today's prompt: Kensi or Deeks gets a relatively minor injury, but the other doesn't realize it and freaks out.

* * *

"You got eyes on him, Kens?" Callen asked as he walked towards the meetup point, Deeks and Sam on either side of him. Perched on the roof of a warehouse, Kensi peered through the scope of her rifle to double check.

"Yup," she confirmed. "And he's got two bodyguards with him, both heavily armed."

"Ok, the second you-" stopped talking abruptly. In a series of events almost too fast to follow, Deeks jerked twice and fell to the ground, Callen spun around with a shocked expression and Sam started firing.

"Deeks," Kensi shouted, fighting the urge to run to him. As Sam covered them, Callen crouched down and started to drag Deeks behind the SUV.

Heart racing and mouth dry, Kensi took out one of the bodyguards. In the back of her mind, she realized Deeks wasn't talking, he wasn't making any sound.

She refocused her scope in the direction the first shot had come from. After a few moments, she spotted the sniper through a third story window of a building across from where she was hidden. Her bullet pierced the glass, creating a spider web of cracks before it hit the man in the center of his head. Kensi waited just long enough to watch him disappear from view and then she checked her scope again.

The other gunmen had retreated and from this angle she couldn't see them. Grabbing an automatic rifle and her gun, she headed for the stairs. Sam and Callen were still exchanging gunfire, but Deeks hadn't made a sound. If he wasn't seriously hurt, she knew he would be saying something, if not actually assisting Sam and Callen. The thought terrified her.

"The sniper's down. I'm on my way," she told them.

"Copy that," Sam answered tightly. "We've got one more holed up behind some cars."

By the time she made it down the many flights of stairs, her breath was coming in harsh pants, but she didn't slow down as she slammed through the exit door.

As she neared the SUV, Callen popped up, firing without pause while Sam ran towards the cars. He fired off three shots and then shouted,

"Clear!" Sam caught her eye, his expression grim and she felt her stomach drop.

"Kensi, he's-" Callen started to say, but she numbly passed by him. There were drops of blood where Deeks had fallen. Not a lot, but enough. She rounded the front of the SUV frantically. Deeks was limply propped against the side, his head leaning on a bumper.

"Deeks," she said, falling to her knees beside him. He lifted his head slowly, groaning as he turned towards her. "No, don't move, baby. We're gonna get you an ambulance. Just stay still."

"I'm ok, Kensi," he insisted, wincing. Kensi ignored him, gently tipping his head upward. His temple was bleeding from a small cut and she instantly began running her fingers through his hair as she scanned his body for bullet wounds.

"I saw you go down, Deeks."

"The bullet hit my vest," he told her, clumsily pointing to a spot in the middle of his chest. Kensi shuddered as she brushed the flattened metal, now firmly embedded in the Kevlar.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she asked, feeling tears prick at the back of her eyes. "I thought you were-I thought you'd been hit."

"Oh, yeah, I think my comm got knocked out when I fell." Kensi just shook her head at him and then grasped the sides of his head, kissing him desperately.

"Oh my god, don't scare me like that again. I can't take it," she said, wrapping her arms tightly around him. He groaned again and tugged at her right arm.

"Baby, don't kill me, but I might have gotten a little hit by another bullet," he told her reluctantly.

"You what?!"

"It's just a graze." Kensi stared at him in disbelief for a moment.

"It's just a-why are you such an idiot sometimes?" she asked, easing back as he lifted the bottom of his black t-shirt.

"Ugh, it's part of my charm," he muttered and then hissed out in pain when she prodded his lower side, just above his hip. It really was a small wound, but it was bloody and no doubt painful.

"Sure it is," she said wryly. "But you're right, it doesn't look too bad. I think you're still going to need stitches." Some of her anger had dissipated, replaced by gratitude that it wasn't worse. She flipped his t-shirt down and pressed her palm over the wound. Deeks didn't groan this time, but she saw his nostrils flare and heard him inhale sharply.

"You hear that, Eric? We're gonna need an ambulance," Callen said over comms, coming up behind Kensi. "How bad is it?"

"Just a graze," Deeks answered before Kensi could.

"But you still need to go to the hospital," she said firmly, giving him a warning look.

"I hate hospitals." Sam joined them in time to hear Deeks' comment and snorted.

"Everybody hates hospital, Deeks," he said, then added with a smirk. "Don't worry though, I'm sure Kensi will help you out with one of those sponge baths you love so much."

"You know, that sounds really creepy, right?" Callen asked, making a face.

"Well, I'm not sure about the sponge baths," Kensi said, brushing Deeks hair back from his slightly sweaty skin, "but I might be able to slip you some jello."

"Make sure it's lime," Deeks requested as she rested her forehead against his.


	28. Queensberry Rules

A/N: For today's prompt: Mischief at The Squid and the Dagger.

* * *

Callen walked into the bar, stopping short as he caught sight of what looked like a smashed table blocking the entrance way. He quickly scanned the rest of the room-it was empty-and reached for his gun.

"Kens, Deeks?" he called, slowly edging his way around splintered table legs. Further in, he could see the glint of shattered glass along with pieces of another broken table.

"We're in the back," Deeks called back faintly. He didn't sound in distress so Callen slipped his gun back in his waistband and made his way around the bar. Deeks and Sam were sitting at a table, crowded into the small room while Kensi stood between them.

"What the hell happened?" he asked, his gaze bouncing from the open first aid kit on the counter to Deeks, who had a bloody nose and finally to Sam who had a small cut across his forehead. Kensi was busy pulling out bandages and disinfectant, but took the time to say,

"Hey Callen."

"Sam, started a bar fight," Deeks offered, his words slightly nasally. He had one hand clamped over his right bicep and turned to glare at Sam.

"I did not start the fight," Sam insisted firmly.

"I was gone for an hour and a half," Callen said incredulously. "How could you guys possibly get into this much trouble?"

"Oh, do not lump me in with these two. I only came in after they got their asses kicked," Kensi said, shaking her head as she grabbed a bandage and unceremoniously tugged Deeks' hand away from his arm. His sleeve had been cut away and there was a nasty looking cut on the inner part of the muscle.

"Excuse me, I for one, did not get my ass kicked," Deeks protested. "Did you see me take that one guy out with a single punch?"

"Uh-huh, extremely sexy. Now hold still." Callen shook his head and asked,

"Are you two ok?" When they both nodded, he turned to Sam. "You wanna tell me why you started a fight?"

"I didn't."

"Well, I certainly didn't start it," Deeks said with an obstinate hint to his voice. Something about it made Callen think this argument had been going on for a while.

"There was a guy badmouthing SEALs with his buddies," Kensi explained while she taped off Deeks' arm. "Sam went to talk to them."

"They were being disrespectful," Sam said with just a hint of sheepishness.

"And you couldn't just let it be."

"I was just going to have a quick talk with them about respecting the military. That's it."

"And somehow you ended up throwing the guy across a table instead," Deeks commented, now twisting his arm to get a better look at his bandage. "I wonder if this is going to scar."

"He threw the first punch. I was just defending myself," Sam insisted, ignoring Deeks.

"And how'd you get involved?" Callen asked, turning back to Deeks, who shrugged.

"It was five against one. Even Sam couldn't handle that many drunk guys armed with beer bottles and pocket knives."

"I had it handled."

"Again, do neither of you remember me stepping in before you got your heads bashed in by a bottle of 20 year old scotch?" Kensi said, shaking her in disbelief.

"How could I forget? It was extremely impressive and hot," Deeks assured her, tugging her against him for a second and Kensi took a moment to run her fingers through his hair. Callen rolled his eyes, seeing he wasn't going to get anymore salient information.

"I'm going to bed," he informed them.

"Watch out for broken glass," Deeks reminded him helpfully. As he picked his way across the debris covered floor, he heard Deeks and Sam begin arguing again and Kensi threatening to leave them to deal with the rest of their injuries on their own if they didn't stop.

His days living above the bar certainly hadn't been the most peaceful of his life, but they were certainly never dull.

* * *

A/N: I'm sure there would be all kinds of police reports and legal stuff to report after an incident like this, but we're not going to get into that.


	29. Parents of the Year

For today's prompt: Densi dealing with school stuff for the first time.

* * *

"How do I look?" Kensi asked as Deeks came around from the driver's side of the truck. She gave a little spin to shake out any wrinkles, nervously waiting for his assessment.

"You look fantastic," he said sincerely. She'd chosen a dark blue, knee length dress, paired with black wedge heels and light make up. Maybe it was a little dressy for parent teacher conferences, but Kensi wasn't about to be one of those pajama parents her first time around. "What about me?" Deeks lifted his arms from his sides.

"I don't know why you're worried about how you look, ladies always love you at these things," Kensi said with a roll of her eyes. "But you look fine."

Fine was a bit of an understatement. Deeks had decided to wear a light blue dress shirt, a tie and charcoal slacks that hugged his thighs and butt. He'd even gone so far as to comb his hair so it curled neatly at the edge of his collar. He looked hot, but now was not the time to get caught up in lusty thoughts. They could do that later, assuming this meeting went well.

"Do you think they really have all the parents come in?" Deeks asked, not for the first time. "I swear the only times my mom had to come to my schools was when I got in trouble."

"It's going to be fine," Kensi said with confidence she didn't entirely feel. Linking her fingers with his, she sighed deeply and they started walking towards Caleb's school. Hetty had helped them get a spot in a small private school that originally had a waiting list of five years. She could only imagine the favors Hetty had called in on their behalf.

After signing in, they were shown to Caleb's classroom where his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Reczeck, was waiting by the door. Kensi could feel Deeks' pulse start to speed up against her palm and she gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"Mr. and Mrs. Deeks, I'm so glad you were able to make it," Mrs. Reczeck said warmly, ushering them into the room. "Caleb talks about you all the time."

"Fantastic," Deeks muttered under his breath.

"Have a seat and then we can talk about what Caleb's been doing this year in class."

"All good I'm sure," Deeks said with a forced chuckle and Kensi glared at him.

"For the most part," Mrs. Reczeck agreed, sitting across from them. Kensi had the very bizarre and uncomfortable feeling that she was back in grade school, being scolded for punching a bully. "Now to begin with, I have to commend you on the care you've taken to expand Caleb's exposure to language and writing. He's one of our best writers and readers."

"We read with him every night," Kensi offered with a weak smile.

"And it shows. Caleb also has quite the imagination. I have some pictures that he's drawn." She started to reach for a folder and Deeks groaned,

"Oh dear lord." As Kensi blurted out,

"We can explain it!" Mrs. Reczeck straightened with a slightly bewildered expression.

"Explain what?" she asked.

"Listen, we're both in law enforcement," Deeks explained, gesturing between himself and Kensi, "and we're always very careful about what we say around Caleb, but he's bound to hear things and he knows we carry guns, so if he's ever talked about that or tried to arrest anyone…he doesn't mean anything by it."

"And we always keep our weapons secured," Kensi added hastily.

"I see," Mrs. Reczeck said slowly, looking a little shocked. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, that is good to know. But Caleb has never done anything of that nature. I was actually going to show you some lovely pictures he drew of your family."

"Oh," Kensi said slightly sheepishly.

"He loves to talk about his Uncles and Aunts and the baby sister he hopes to have some day. Would like to see them?"

"That would be lovely," Deeks answered meekly. Mrs. Reczeck reached for the folder again and removed a handful of drawings. The top one showed the entire team, plus Kensi and Deeks and Roberta and Julia standing in what looked like a field of grass, next to a brown triangle labeled "my hous". For some reason Nell and Sam were floating in mid-air, but overall there was an impressive amount of detail. At the very top, he'd written, "my famlee".

"Oh my goodness," Kensi said, reaching for Deeks hand again and feeling remarkably close to tears.

"He's an amazing artist. Now why don't you two spend a few minutes with those while I gather the rest of Caleb's papers."

They spent the next twenty minutes reviewing Caleb's first quarter grades and accomplishments. He struggled a little with counting and naming numbers, but he'd inherited the Deeks-Blye stubborn determination which had kept him on track so far.

When it was time for them to leave, Mrs. Reczeck showed them out with slightly less enthusiasm than when they'd arrived. Kensi waited until they were in the parking lot before she spoke.

"I can't believe you said all that about the guns and him arresting people," she hissed.

"You started it," Deeks pointed out and after a moment she nodded her head.

"I guess I did." She sighed hugely, leaning into his shoulder. "Well, I'm guessing we're not gonna get the parent of the year award."

"Do you think they'll kick him out after this?"

"Meh, probably," Kensi answered honestly, too tired now after all the anticipation to actually get that worked up. "At least he's doing well academically."

"And he didn't try to arrest anyone," Deeks added.


	30. Guest List

For today's prompt: Kensi and Deeks discuss their pasts. I was watching "Into the Breach" from last season and Kensi and Deeks were talking about their relatives (most of whom we've never heard about before). I was curious if these additional family members played a role in our favorite couple's childhoods.

This one takes place after "Into the Breach".

* * *

"Ok, so we had another cancellation so now we have two possible seats for Cousin Mortimer," Kensi told Deeks as she stared at her seating plans once again. After finishing up the case, she'd headed over to the bar to see how Deeks and Roberta had faired with the health inspector. She'd been pleasantly surprised to find both Deeks in good moods. The prospect of finishing their to-do list was not nearly so pleasant.

"Yours or mine?" Deeks asked, tossing a bar towel over one shoulder and coming to sit beside her.

"Yours." She slid the RSVP his way and Deeks stared at the name for a while.

"Huh," he frowned, his eyes distant for a second and then added, "I haven't seen them in years. Mom must have added them to the list."

"Did you see your relatives a lot growing up?" Kensi asked. It was a question that had been on her mind ever since they'd started pooling their respective families together. It turned out they both had a lot more random aunts, uncles and cousins than they'd originally thought. Naturally, Kensi's mind had turned to Deeks' past which was still somewhat a mystery to her.

"Some. Most of them lived kind of far away or we weren't very close with them," Deeks answered casually while he ticked off something on their "massive" list.

"What about when the stuff happened with your dad?" she continued carefully.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown.

"I get you not being close to everyone, but you've mentioned your Uncle Bob a lot. I don't understand why no one helped you and your mom out after your dad went to prison," Kensi explained and she watched as Deeks' expression slowly changed with the distant look that sometimes accompanied these conversations.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know. I don't even know if my mom reached out to anyone-she was pretty embarrassed and self-conscious about what happened. And we'd already become pretty isolated be then," he said, pausing to let out a long breath and rearrange his hair. Kensi let him think, allowing him to lead now.

"My best guess is that mom maybe asked for help with finances-which would be a stretch 'cause you know she's proud as hell-but Uncle Bob never had any money. And the rest…maybe they thought mom deserved it for marrying dad or were afraid they get saddled with both of us." He shrugged and gave Kensi a small, crooked smile.

"They don't sound like very good relatives," Kensi commented. "Are you sure you want them at our wedding?" Deeks snorted at that, shaking his head.

"I'm pretty sure Mama would kill both of us if we uninvited anyone," he said, only partially joking. "Besides, I like Uncle Bob. Even if he is a little crazy."

"Yeah, he certainly fits right in."

"I think I should maybe be offended by that," Deeks said, scrunching his face up into a ridiculous expression that she couldn't help laughing at.

"You are such an idiot sometimes. But I love you," she said fondly, leaning over to kiss him and he grinned against her lips.

"What about you?" Deeks asked when they pulled apart. "Why didn't you stay with one of your relatives after your dad passed?" He asked the question with the same underlying caution she had. It was funny, she hadn't considered how similar those aspects of their pasts were.

"I guess like you, I didn't have a close relationship with family since we moved around so much. And as a teenager, I figured if I ran away to one of them, they'd just ship me off to my mom," she said thoughtfully, blowing out a long breath.

"I'm sorry, baby. We don't have to talk about it anymore."

"Deeks, I'm the one who started this. And I'm ok. It's actually nice to talk about this stuff without feeling like it needs to be some kind of secret." She squeezed Deeks hand and he leaned down to kiss her again.

"So, does that mean we finally have the seating done?" Deeks asked, getting up to finish up something behind the bar and effectively ending the prior conversation.

"Unless we get another late RSVP," she said with a roll of her eyes and then leaned forward to watch him. A smile slowly spread across her face. She really did love him beyond reason. While he started wiping down the top of the bar, he asked,

"Hey, did I ever tell you about the time Uncle Bob took me fishing?"

"No, I don't think you did. What happened?" she said, resting her chin in her palms. She sighed contentedly as Deeks began to spin a ridiculous story, clearly in his element.


	31. Let's Start the New Year Right

For today's prompt: Densi celebrate New Year's Eve.

* * *

"Kensi, you're going to miss it!" Deeks called up the stairs. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry, I had to pee," she answered, hastily running down the stairs.

"Geez, you're only like five weeks pregnant, what's going to happen in a couple months?" Kensi paused on the bottom step to glare at him, clearly unimpressed. "I mean, come sit down Light of My Life, everything's ready.

"You're lucky I love you," Kensi commented, crossing the space to kiss him on the lips.

"Oh believe me, I know it," he whispered, leaning in for several seconds until he heard an excited screech from the TV. "It's about to start." He grabbed Kensi's hand and led her over to the couch. While she was upstairs, he'd put out cheese, crackers, and in lieu of champagne, sparkling grape juice.

A few years back they'd started watching the Times Square Ball Drop as a part of their own New Year's celebration. Sometimes it was a struggle to stay up to midnight, but tonight they were wide awake.

Deeks couldn't remember the last time he was this excited for a new year to begin. Maybe it was because this one seemed full of possibility. Kensi seemed to share his enthusiasm, easing up on her knees beside with a smile full of warmth and anticipation.

They counted down with the crowd as fireworks and flashing lights filled the screen. When the ball dropped, Deeks cupped Kensi's face between his palms and kissed her with everything he had. Kensi kissed him back enthusiastically and by the time they broke apart, the host was signing off.

Draping his arm across her shoulders, Deeks handed Kensi one of the champagne flutes and then tilted his own in her direction.

"This last year has been one of the best and craziest of my life. And I can't wait to find out what's next for us. Happy new year, baby," he said, clinking their glasses together.

After they had both taken a sip, Kensi cleared her throat and turned so she was facing him directly.

"Since we're apparently making toasts, I am so glad that I get to have you by my side through all the craziness," she said, looking down for a second with a self-conscious smile. "I love you Marty Deeks and I have no doubt this will be a wonderful year. Here's to forty more."

She grasped the back of his head, guiding him back to her mouth. This time they forgot to drink, but Deeks was more than happy to stay right there for the rest of the night. When Kensi pulled back, he asked,

"What about if we live to our 90's?" He smirked up at her as she rolled her eyes, but could tell she was fighting the urge laugh.

"Then I'm kicking your shaggy butt to the curb," she answered breathlessly and bent down, latching her mouth over the skin just beneath his jaw. Deeks let out a low groan, settling his hands on her hip. As they slowly sank to the floor, he couldn't help but think the year was off to a great start.

* * *

A/N: I realize this timeline doesn't quite match up with the show's, but I feel like they're being rather flexible with time so I can be too. The title is taken from a song in the movie, "Holiday Inn", because I like to be original.


End file.
